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^s^saa^i    "u;: 


Air 


Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology 

HERPETOLOGY  LIBRARY 


Ernst  M^yr  UbTdry 

Museum  of  C';         'm  Zoology 

Harvajti  University 


-^ 

THE     SNAKES     OF     CEYLON 


THE 


SNAKES   OF  CEYLON 


By 


A.  F.  Abercromby. 


London : 
MURRAY    a^    CO  ,    180    Brompton     Road,    S.W. 

I9I0. 


INDEX. 


-Lidd^O  •••  •••  •••  ••• 

Chapter     I.     Prejudice  against  Snakes 


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II.     Suitability    of    Ceylon   for  the   Study   of 

Ophiology           ...         ...         ...         ...  4 

III.  Snakes  in  General,  and  their  Anatomy    ...  9 

IV.  The  Nine  Families  of  Snakes       ...         ...  24 

V.     A  Simple  Means  of  Identifying  the  Poison- 
ous Snakes  of  Ceylon  at  Sight  without 

Scientific  Knowledge     ...         ...         ...  28 

VI.     Snake  Hunting,   Skinning  and  Preserving  32 

VII.     Some  Records  of  Snake  Hunting...         ...  45 

VIII.     Protective  Colouration       ...         ...         ...  52 

IX.     Snakes  in  Captivity            ...         ...         ...  55 

X.     The     Common     Boidae,    Viperidae    and 

Colubridae  of  Ceylon    ...         ...         ...  67 


„       XI.     Some  Legends  and  Stories  about  Snakes         82 
Appendix.     Effect  on  Snakes  of  Electric  Light  ...         ...         89 


PREFACE. 


As  far  as  I  am  aware  no  book  has  as  yet  been 
written  upon  the  "  Snakes  of  Ceylon,"  though 
accounts  of  the  latter  are  usually  included  in  the 
many  works  and  treatises  on  the  Ophidia  of  India. 

These  works,  however,  are,  as  a  rule,  too 
technical  for  the  general  reader,  and  are  more 
suited  to  the  scientist  than  the  naturalist.  Natural 
History  books,  on  the  other  hand,  seldom  give 
sufficiently  detailed  information  about  the  Snakes, 
and  only  touch  lightly  on  this  interesting  branch  of 
Natural  History.  I  have,  however,  attempted  to 
supply  this  omission  by  describing  the  subject  in 
nearly  all  of  its  most  interesting  aspects,  and 
feeble  though  the  attempt  is,  I  trust  that  the 
Scientist,  Naturalist,  Sportsman,  and  Taxidermist 
may  each  find  something  to  interest  him  in  this 
small  volume,  compiled  from  information  gleaned 
while  keeping  and  studying  Snakes  in  Ceylon. 

In  compiling  this  book  I  have  obtained  much 
valuable  information  from  the  following  well-known 
works : — 

**The  Fauna  of  British  India — Reptilia  and 
Batrachia,"  M.  G.  A.  Boulenger. 

"  The  Poisonous  Terrestrial  Snakes  of  our 
British  India  Dominions,"  Major  F.  Wall. 

''  Nicholson's  Indian  Snakes,"  Mr.  E.  Nichol- 
son. 


Chapter  I. 
PREJUDICE     AGAINST     SNAKES. 

There  is  a  lot  of  undue  prejudice  and  dislike 
with  regard  to  Snakes.  It  is  true  that  the  poison- 
ous varieties  should  be  feared,  but  it  is  not  merely 
fear  of  these,  that  creates  the  dislike  prevalent 
against  the  whole  of  the  Serpent  race.  It  is 
Prejudice.  People  who  have  studied  and  written 
books  on  these  reptiles  have  nothing  detrimental 
to  say  against  them.  An  attack  by  a  lion  or  a  tiger 
is  just  as  apt  to  terminate  fatally  as  the  bite  of  a 
cobra,  but  the  former  are  not  regarded  with  the 
same  horror,  with  which  people  think  of  serpents. 
This  prejudice  is  due  mostly  to  ignorance.  It  is  Reasons  fo 
human  nature  to  fear  what  we  cannot  understand.  Inakes?  °^ 

When  you  see  a  snake  moving,  without  any 
visible  means  of  propulsion,  you  fear  it,  as  it  ap- 
pears uncanny. 

When  you  see  the  fixed  stare  of  a  snake  (due 
to  the  absence  of  eyelids),  you  attribute  it  to  hyp- 
notic powers,  and  fear  it  more  than  ever.  That 
snakes  actually  exert  hypnotic  power  to  attract 
their  prey  is  a  fallacy.  A  frog  or  rat  coming  sud- 
denly upon  a  snake,  may  become  partially  paralysed 
through  fear,  thinking  that  the  snake  is  looking  at 
it,  although  at  the  time  the  serpent  may  be  asleep, 
but  is  unable  to  close  its  eyes  owing  to  the  absence 
of  eyelids.  A  frog  or  a  lizard  will  often,  under  the 
circumstances  keep  still,  in  a  seemingly  paralysed 
condition,  hoping  that  its  protective  coloration  will 
enable  it  to  avoid  observation. 

The  much  maligned  snake  is  often  referred  to 
by  people,  who  have  never  handled  or  studied  one, 
as  *'  an  ugly  slimy  thing."  A  snake  on  the  contrary 
is  dry  skinned,    and  is  one  of  the   most  beautiful 


works  of  Creation.  You  never  find  a  snake  with 
unsightly  angles  and  corners  (though  the  heads  of 
a  few  snakes  are  repulsive).  The  movements  of 
the  snake  are  silent  and  graceful,  they  make  no 
disturbing  noise,  and  do  not  fight  and  quarrel  with 
each  other,  which  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  the 
Human  race.  In  fact,  the  malicious  nature  so 
often  attributed  to  snakes  is  entirely  non-existent. 
Another  reason  for  the  fear  occasioned  by  snakes 
(mostly  noticeable,  by  the  way,  in  those  who  have 
seldom,  if  ever,  seen  a  snake)  is  the  extremely 
**  tall  "  romances  that  are  related  sometimes  by 
people  who  have  been  out  in  the  East,  and  wish  on 
their  return  to  thrill  their  hearers  with  highly- 
exaggerated  stories.  Some  time  ago,  when  reading 
over  a  rather  old  number  of  a  magazine,  I  came 
across  such  a  story. 

The  Author  starts  by  entering  his  billiard 
room  one  morning  and  finds  twenty-seven  snakes 
in  it,  which  he  kills.  He  then  goes  for  a  walk  in 
his  garden,  to  repair  his  shattered  nerves,  and  is 
chased  round  and  round  a  hayrick  by  a  cobra. 
When  this  has  gone  on  for  half  an  hour,  the  cobra 
leaves  him,  and  he  retires  to  bed  (and  about  time 
too!),  and  in  doing  so  steps  on  a  deadly  viper. 
The  Author  ends  by  stating  that  he  is  a  teetotaler, 
and  I  can  quite  understand  why.  It  is  stories 
such  as  this  that  intimidate  possible  visitors  to  the 
East,  and  make  them  expect  to  find  cobras 
regularly  "  with  their  morning  tea." 

The  following  is  taken  from  a  book  on  Ceylon, 
recently  published.  Referring  to  a  journey  between 
Polgahawela  and  Mihintale,  the  Authoress  mentions 
that  '*  that  peculiar  hiss  heralded  the  approach  of 
a  cobra,  who,  with  head  erect,  would  gaze  at  the 
travellers."  Again,  "  Amidst  the  cracking  and 
roar"  (of  the  flames)  ''the  hiss  hiss  of  the  cobra 
was  distinctly  visible,  besides  the  muffled  moan  of 


the  boa-constrictor  in  flight  for  life,"  and  further 
on,  referring  to  che  cobra,  ''  It  sneaked  along  the 
floor  spitting  out  virus  in  all  directions." 

No  wonder  that  the  snake  has  such  a  bad 
name  ! 

The  stories  that  one  so  often  hears  of  pursuit 
by  snakes  are  easily  explained. 

A  snake,  when  disturbed,  will  not  always 
retreat  in  the  opposite  direction  to  which  it  is 
approached,  but  will  make  a  bee  line  for  its  hole, 
or  the  nearest  jungle. 

If  it  is  on  a  hillside  it  will  be  almost  certain  to 
go  down-hill  when  disturbed  by  anyone. 

If  a  person  is  going  along  a  path,  a  snake  will 
sometimes  cross  the  road  in  front  of  him,  and 
probably  follow  the  man  if  his  line  of  retreat  lies 
down-hill,  or  in  the  same  direction  as  the  snake's 
hole  is.  Hence  the  fanciful  idea  of  pursuit  by  a 
snake. 

If  snakes  could  talk  they  would  probably  tell 
as  alarming  stories  about  mankind,  as  man  does  of 
snakes. 

Only  when  cornered  or  injured  will  a  snake 
attack,  and  then,  if  left  alone,  will  always  retreat. 

All  snakes  have  an  instinctive  fear  of  human 
beings,  and  even  members  of  the  Python  family 
(the  Giant  Anaconda,  for  instance)  will  always 
retreat  if  they  get  sufficient  warning  of  his  approach. 
The  rare  cases  in  which  people  have  been  seized 
and  crushed  by  boa-constrictors,  etc.,  are  probably 
due  to  the  snakes  mistaking  them  for  deer  or  other 
game,  the  sight  of  the  different  species  of  the 
Pythoninae  being  very  bad  in  the  daytime.  In 
fact,  a  nocturnal  snake  that  is  having  a  meal  in  the 
daylight  will  sometimes  seize  and  bite  its  own  body 
in  mistake  for  the  dead  body  of  its  prey. 


Chapter  II. 

SUITABILITY     OF     CEYLON    FOR    THE 
STUDY     OF    OPHIOLOGY. 

Ceylon  is  an  ideal  country  for  the  study  of 
Snakes.  There  are  many  Eastern  countries  con- 
taining more  snakes,  and  more  varieties,  but  in  few 
other  countries  are  there  so  many  varieties  to  be 
found  in  so  small  an  area. 

This  is  chiefly  due  to  the  geographical  con- 
ditions prevalent  in  Ceylon,  where  so  many  different 
formations  of  country  are  to  be  met  with,  and  so 
many  different  temperatures  and  climates.  There 
are  the  mountains  beloved  of  the  earth-snakes,  the 
swamplands,  where  the  pythons  and  water  snakes 
abound  ;  the  jungle  bounded  paddy  fields,  where 
the  cobras,  rat-snakes,  and  other  varieties  indulge 
in  their  evening  frog  hunting  ;  the  Patana  covered 
downs  of  Uva,  giving  cover  to  snakes  of  all 
descriptions,  which  are  seldom  seen  except  when 
the  grass  is  being  burnt  down ;  and  the  sandy 
Jaffna  district,  the  home  of  the  Russell's  Viper, 
the  Bungarus  Caeruleus  and  the  Echis  Carinata. 
Represent-  Although    many   genera   are    represented    in 

ationof  Ccylon,  the  number  of  representatives  to  be  found 
Ceylon.  of  cach  gcnus  is  comparatively  small.  Thus  the 
large  family  of  Bungarums  (or  Kraits),  eleven  in 
number,  have  only  two  representatives  in  Ceylon, 
the  Bungarus  Ceylonicus  and  the  Bungarus  Caeru- 
leus, the  latter  being  very  rare  and  only  found  in 
Jaffna.  The  large  family  of  the  Trimeresuri  is  only 
represented  by  the  T.  Trigonocephalus.  Lycodon 
Aulicus  and  L.  Carinatus  are  the  only  specimens 
of  the  Lycodontidae  to  be  found  in  Ceylon,  and 
the   Tropidonoti   are    only    found    in    the    forms 


5 

Quincunciatus  (Piscator'*^),  Stolatus,  Ceylonensis 
and  Plumbicolor. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  species  of 
Earth-snake  pecuHar  to  Ceylon.  These  snakes  are 
very  numerous  in  the  mountain  districts,  and 
probably  many  varieties  have  still  to  be  recorded. 

The  Gongylophis  Conicus  has  not  as  yet  been 
found  in  Ceylon,  though  its  existence  in  the 
northern  portion  of  the  island  is  quite  probable. 
The  Echis  Carinata  is  to  be  found  in  the  north, 
though  it  is  very  rare. 

List  of  Snakes  found  in  Ceylon. 

I.  Typhlopidae. 

I 

1  Typhlops  Mirus 

2  ,,         Braminus 
II.  Boidae. 

2 

3  Python  Molurus 

III.  Ilysiidae. 

3 

4  Cylindrophis  Maculatus 

IV.  Uropeltidae. 

4 

5  Uropeltis  Grandis 

5 

6  Rhinophis  Oxyrhynchus 

7  ,,  Punctatus 

8  ,,  Planiceps 

9  ,,  Blythii 

6 

10  Silybura  Melanogaster 
V.  Colubridae. 

(Aglypha)  Sub-Family  Coltibrinae, 

7 

11  Aspidura  Brachyorrhos 

"*The  Ceylon  variety  of  this  snake  is  now  known  as  Tropidonotus 

Asperrimus. 


12  Aspidura  Copii 

13  ,,         Guentheri 

14  ,,         Trachyprocta 

15  ,,         Drummondhayi 

8 

16  Haplocercus  Ceylonensis 

9 

17  Lycodon  Aulicus 

18  „         Striatus 

19  ,,         Carinatus 

10 

20  Hydrophobus  Nympha 

21  „  Gracilis 


II 


22  Polyodontophis  Subpunctatus. 

12 

23  Ablabes  Calamaria 

13 

24  Simotes  Arnensis 

^4 

25  Oligodon  Templetonii 

26  ,,         Sublineatus 

27  „         Subgriseus 

28  „         Ellioti 

29  Zamenis  Mucosus 

30  ,,         Fasciolatus 

16 

31  Coluber  Helena 

32  Dendrophis  Pictus 

33  ,,  Bifrenalis 

34  ,,  Caudolineolatus 

18 

35  Tropidonotus  Ceylonensis 

36  ,,  Plumbicolor 

37  ,,  Piscator* 

38  ,.  Stolatus 

39  Helicops  Schistosus 

*  Known  as  Asperrimus  in  Ceylon. 


(Opisthoglypha)  Sitb-Family  Dipsadinac. 

20 

40  Dipsas  Barnesii 

41  ,,      Ceylonensis 

42  ,,      Forstenii 

21 

43  Dryophis  Mycterizans 

44  ,,       Pulverulentus 

22 

45  Chrysopelea  Ornata 
(Opisthoglypha)  Sub-Family  Homalopsinae, 

23 

46  Cerberus  Rhynchops 

24 

47  Hypsirhina  Enhydris 

(Proteroglypha)  Sub-Family  Elapinae 

25  _ 

48  Callophis  Trimaculatus 

26 

49  Bungarus  Ceylonicus 

50  ,,         Caeruleus 

27 

51  Naia  Tripudians 

VI.    Viperidae. 

Sub-Family  Viperinae. 

28 

52  Vipera  Russellii 

29 

53  Echis  Carinata 
Sub-Family  Crotalinae. 

30 

54  Ancistrodon  Hypnale 

31 

55  Trimeresurus  Trigonocephalus 

There  are  three  snakes  I  have  omitted  to 
enumerate,  as  their  existence  in  Ceylon  is  doubtful ; 
Gerardia  Prevostiana,  Ancistrodon  Millardi,  Tri- 
meresurus Gramineus. 

Gerardia  Prevostiana  was  accidentally  recorded 
from  Ceylon,  and  its  presence  there  denied  by 
Prof.  Boulenger. 


8 

AncistFodon  Millardi  is  mentioned  by  Major 
Wall  as  being  a  second  variety  of  Ancistrodon 
Hypnale. 

The  existence  of  Trimeresurus  Gramineus  in 
Ceylon  is  doubtful. 

Exclusive   of   these   there   are    55    snakes   in 

Ceylon   and   31    genera    are     represented.      The 

The  Aglypha,    Colubrinae   and   Achcrochordinae    (the 

Suspected'     ^^^^^^   ^^^   represented   in    Ceylon)   are  harmless. 

and  Harm-     The  Opisthoglypha,  Dipsadinae  and  Homalopsinae 

less  Snakes.    ^^^    slightly    poisonous    (back-fanged),    and    the 

Proteroglypha,   Elapinae    and    Hydrophiinae   (the 

latter  are  omitted  from  the  list,  being  Sea-snakes) 

are   poisonous    (front-fanged).     All  the  Viperidae 

are     poisonous.       The    remaining    Families    are 

harmless. 


Chapter  III. 

SNAKES    IN    GENERAL    AND    THEIR 

ANATOMY. 

Snakes  may  be  distinguished  from  lizards, 
earth  and  blind  worms,  by  means  of  the  following 
short  definition  : — 

(a)  Elongate  body,  with  a  scale-covered  Definition 
epidermis,  cast  several  times  during  the  year,    of  Snakes 

(b)  No  eyelids,  the  eyes  being  covered  by 
hard  and  transparent  shields,  which  form  part 
of,  and  are  cast  with,  the  epidermis. 

{c)  No  limbs,  though  vestiges  of  hind  legs 
are  to  be  found  in  certain  earth-snakes,  the 
Python,  and  the  male  Gongylophis. 

(d)  Absence  of  visible  ears. 

[e)  The  connection  of  the  jawbones  by 
muscles  and  ligaments,  and  the  expansion 
thereby  obtained  owing  to  the  absence  of 
natural  joints. 

(/)  The  presence  of  teeth  on  the  palate 
(in  most  snakes)  in  addition  to  those  in  the 
jaws. 

The  snake  moves  by  means  of  ventrals,  or,, 
oblong  shields  on  the  underside  of  the  body,  their  Locomotion, 
ends  being  connected  by  muscles  with  the  ends  of 
the  ribs.  By  moving  forward  one  pair  of  ribs  after 
the  other,  the  edges  of  the  ventrals  catch  and 
press  against  the  ground,  in  much  the  same  manner 
as  the  paddles  of  a  steamboat  press  upon  the  water, 
except  that  the  paddles  are  perpendicular  to  the 
surface  of  the  water,  whereas  the  snake's  ventrals 
lie  almost  flat  along  the  ground.  In  this  manner 
the  snake  is  propelled  forward. 


10 


The  Tail  and 
its  Uses, 


Shape  of 
Body  and 
Lateral 
Keels 


The  Heads 
and  Head- 
Shields 


The  tail  plays  no  part  in  the  locomotion  of 
the  snake,  but  helps  to  steer  its  body,  and  is  useful 
as  a  prehensile  organ  in  the  case  of  Tree-Snakes. 

When  moving  fast  the  snake  lashes  itself  along 
the  ground  in  a  succession  of  curves.  This  enables 
it  to  take  a  hold  of  the  ground  with  the  outer 
portions  of  the  ventrals,  which,  gripping  the  ground 
better  than  the  central  portions,  enable  the  snake 
to  move  faster.  The  tail  again  comes  in  useful  in 
assisting  the  lateral  undulations  of  the  snake. 

It  is  noticeable  that  in  certain  fast-moving 
snakes,  such  as  Zamenis,  Dendrophis,  and  Dryophis 
(the  Rat-snake,  Copper  Tree-snake,  and  Whip- 
snake),  the  tail  is  long  in  comparison  with  the 
length  of  the  body,  while  in  slow-moving  snakes, 
such  as  the  families  Uropeltidse,  Boidse,  and 
Viperidse,  the  tail  is  short. 

Certain  snakes,  the  Dipsadinse  and  the  Tri- 
meresuri,  vibrate  their  tales  when  irritated.  This 
is  in  some  way  explainable  in  the  Trimeresuri,  as 
they  belong  to  the  same  sub-family  (Crotalinse)  as 
the  Rattlesnake,  but  this  does  not  explain  the 
habit  in  the  Dipsadinae.  This  peculiarity  is  also 
noticeable  in  other  snakes,  mostly  Tree-snakes,  but 
in  not  nearly  so  marked  a  degree. 

Snakes  may  have  cylindrical  or  compressed 
bodies.  The  former  are  most  noticeable  among 
Earth-snakes  (Uropeltidse,  Xenopeltidse,  etc.)  and 
the  latter  among  Tree-snakes  (Dipsadinae).  Among 
certain  Tree-snakes  lateral  keels  are  to  be  found ; 
that  is,  they  have  their  outer  rows  of  scales  very 
much  enlarged,  and  as  broad  as  the  ventrals.  This 
is  especially  noticeable  in  the  different  varieties  of 
Dendrophis. 

The  heads  of  snakes  vary  very  considerably, 
and,  together  with  the  shields  on  them,  form  the 
most  important  factor  in  the  identification  of 
snakes. 


n 

The  shields  on  the  heads  of  the  various 
genera  of  Colubridae  are  regular  in  pattern,  and 
identification  of  the  different  species  can  only  be 
done  by  minute  comparisons  of  the  comparative 
sizes  of  the  different  shields  in  relation  to  one 
another.  The  shapes  of  the  heads  in  this  large 
family  are  very  variable,  some  being  spade-shaped, 
some  elongate,  some  oval,  a  few  rounded,  some 
triangularly  elongate,  and  some  pointed. 

The    Amblycephalidae     have     enlarged     but  a  rough 
regular  shields,    such    as    those    found    on     the  classification 
Colubridae,  and  their  heads  are  club-shaped.     The  Cf  thVheads^ 
snakes    of    the     family    Viperidae     have    mostly  ^^^,^,^^^' 

1  11  -11  •  r        ^       shielding 

triangular    heads,    with    the     exception     oi     the  found  in  the 
Azemiops  Feae  and  Echis  Carinata,  which   have  ^^^^y?^*^ 

i3.miliss 

round  heads,  and  the  Crotalinae,  which  have  pear- 
shaped  heads.  Some  of  the  vipers  have  their  heads 
covered  with  scales,  some  have  regular  shields  on 
their  heads,  and  others  have  partly-shielded  and 
partly-scaled  heads.  The  heads  of  the  Boidae  vary 
considerably,  the  shielding  of  the  Pythons  being 
unique  in  its  pattern,  while  Gongylophis  and  Eryx 
have  heads  covered  with  scales. 

The  Uropeltidae  and  Ilysiide  have  differently- 
shaped  shields  to  those  of  the  Colubridae,  the 
shields  being  enlarged  and  straight-sided,  while  a 
few  shields  that  are  present  in  the  Colubridae  are 
missing  in  the  Earth-snakes.  The  shielding  on  the 
Xenopeltidae  is  really  a  mixture  of  the  types  found 
on  the  two  above-mentioned  families  and  that  on 
the  Colubridae. 

The  shields  found  on  the  Glauconidae  and 
Typhlopidae  are  peculiar,  and  resemble  the  shield- 
ing of  no  other  family.  Their  heads  are  of  a  type 
peculiar  to  themselves,  while  the  heads  of  Urope- 
tidae,  Ilysiidae,  Xenopeltidae,  and  Boidae  resemble 
in  shape  those  found  among  the  Colubridae. 


12 


Colouration, 


Colour 

changes 

occuring 

after  death 

in  the 

Dendrophis 

Pictus. 


Surface 
Colouration. 


The  Colouration  of  snakes  is  of  three  kinds  : 
(i)   The  natural  colour  of  the  scales. 

(2)  Colour  formed  by  pigments  under  the 
skin. 

(3)  Colour  on  the  skin  between  the  scales. 

Most  dull-coloured  snakes,  such  as  the  Cobra 
and  Rat-snake,  belong  to  the  first  class. 

The  second  form  of  colouration  is  found 
mostly  in  Tree  and  brightly  coloured  snakes,  often 
together  with  the  third  form  of  skin  colouration 
between  the  scales. 

It  is  the  colouration  by  pigments  that  is 
responsible  for  the  colour  change  which  sometimes 
occurs  in  certain  snakes.  The  skins  of  snakes 
coloured  in  this  way  lose  their  colour  after  the 
snake  has  been  killed  and  the  skin  removed. 

Take,  for  example,  the  Dendrophis  Pictus- 
The  colours  found  on  this  snake  when  alive  are 
very  numerous,  and  comprise  blue,  green,  brown, 
olive,  and  yellow. 

After  death  the  pigment  (or  optical)  colours 
disappear,  leaving  the  scale  colouring,  brown  and 
olive,  and  the  sky  blue  colour  found  on  the 
interstitial  skin.  These  fade,  and  the  ground  colour, 
when  the  skin  is  dry,  is  dark  blue,  fading  into  light 
blue  near  the  ventrals,  though,  when  held  to  the 
light  the  part  originally  coloured  by  pigment  is 
found  to  be  transparent,  and  is  crossed  by  dark 
streaks,  which  are  what  remains  of  the  colour  on 
the  interstitial  skin. 

Scale  colouration  is  not  always  uniform,  but 
certain  scales  may  be  of  a  contrasting  colour,  and 
form  a  pattern.  The  depth  of  the  colour  in  a 
snake's  skin  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the 
cast  epidermis  of  a  snake  is  colourless,  though  in 
the  case  of  the  Python  dark  marking  may  be 
faintly  seen  on  its  cast  skin. 


13 

Cutting  a  snake  open,  from  the  head  down  to  The  internal 
the  ana],  one  first  notices,  in  the  snake's  mouth,  '^^^"^* 
two  tubular  sheaths,  the  foremost  containing 
the  tongue,  and  the  one  behind  being  the  ter- 
mination of  the  windpipe.  The  flexibiUty  of  the 
windpipe  is  demonstrated  when  a  snake  is  swallow- 
ing anything  at  all  large. 

When  the  animal  or  bird  being  devoured  is  Protrusion 
about  half  way  into  the  snake's  mouth,  the  snake  windpipe, 
will  project  its  windpipe  beyond  the  lower  lip,  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  a  tongue  is  protruded, 
where  it  opens  and  closes,  taking  in  air — in  this 
way  a  snake  avoids  suffocation,  when  both  the 
mouth  and  the  interior  orifices  of  the  nasal  passage 
are  blocked  by  the  food.  A  ten-foot  python  can 
protrude  its  windpipe  a  good  half-inch  beyond  the 
lower  lip. 

About  quarter  of  the  way  down  the  body  are 
Lungs,  or  rather  lung,  as  only  the  left  one  is 
properly  developed.  It  is  formed  of  a  network  of 
air  cells,  and  only  the  anterior  portion  is  used  for 
breathing,  the  posterior  being  an  air  reservoir. 
The  Hydrophiinse  (Sea-snakes)  naturally  have 
very  well  developed  lungs.  The  Heart  is  in  front 
of  the  anterior  portion  of  the  lungs,  while  at  the 
posterior  end  comes  the  Liver,  a  large  elongate 
organ,  which  extends  down  to  behind  the  stomach. 
At  the  lower  end  of  the  stomach,  where  digestion  Digestion, 
principally  takes  place,  come  the  Gall-bladder  and 
Pancreas.  Below  these  latter  are  large  masses  of 
fat,  which  form  a  reserve  supply  of  nourishment 
for  the  snake  when  it  is  fasting.  The  stomach 
cannot  of  course  contain  the  large  amount  of  food 
swallowed,  but  as  digestion  takes  place,  the  lower 
portion  of  the  animal  swallowed  passes  into  the 
Intestines  (situated  below  the  Pancreas),  and  the 
remainder  of  the  food  passes  from  the  gullet  into 
the  stomach.     The  fat  surrounding  the  stomach 


14 


The  Five 
Forms  of 
Dentition. 


helps  to  lubricate  the  system,  and  plays  an  import- 
ant part  in  assisting  the  liver  and  other  organs  in 
their  work  of  digestion.  The  Ovaries  lie  in  front 
of  the  intestine,  and  resemble  transparent  sacks, 
which  sometimes  extend  nearly  half  way  up  the 
body  of  the  snake. 

The  Dentition  of  Snakes  is  of  five  kinds : — 
(i)  Solid  teeth  (all  harmless  snakes). 

(2)  Grooved  and  immovable  fangs,  situ- 
ated in  the  back  of  the  upper  jaws,  behind 
the  solid  maxillary  teeth,  and  which  may  be 
provided  with  a  slight  amount  of  poison 
(Dipsadinse,  Homalopsinse). 

(3)  Fangs  grooved  and  immovable,  situ- 
ated in  front  of  the  other  maxillary  teeth  and 
supplied  with  virulent  poison  (Hydropiinse). 

(4)  Poison  fangs  in  a  better  stage  of 
development,  supplied  with  virulent  poison, 
and  situated  in  front  of  the  other  maxillary 
teeth,  with  well-marked  poison  canals  down 
their  centres.  These  fangs  can  be  slightly 
erected  and  depressed  (Elapidae  of  India  and 
Ceylon). 

(5)  The   whole   poison    apparatus   in    its 
best  stage  of  development.     Fangs  much  en- 
larged,  caniculate,  and  capable  of  being  en- 
tirely erected  and  depressed  (Viperidae). 
The  erection  and  depression  of  the  fang  is 

found  in  its  most  perfect  form  among  the  Viperidae, 
and  is  accomplished  in  the  following  manner : — 

The  maxillary  bone  is  a  bone  situated  behind 
and  below  the  snout,  where  it  moves  in  a  socket 

Bones  of  the  ^o^^^d     by    the     "  snout     bones"     (prae-frontal). 

skull  and  Welded  to  the  lower  end  of  the  maxillary  bone 
is  the  fang,  while  the  centre  of  the  maxillary  bone 
is  itself  hinged  on  to  another  bone  (the  ectopteri- 
goid),  which  can  be  protruded  and  retracted  by 
muscles,    thus    raising   and   depressing   the   fang. 


Mobility  of 
the  fang. 


jaws. 


15 

These  muscles  also  move  the  palatine  bones,  which 
are  the  inner  branches  of  what  are  known  as  the 
pterygoids,  the  maxillaries  forming,  in  the  harmless 
snakes,  the  outer  branches. 

All  snakes  bear  teeth  on  the  palate,  except 
Oligodon  and  a  few  varieties  of  Earthsnakes. 

A  snake's  mouth  is  capable  of  great  expansion, 
the  lower  jawbones  being  joined  to  each  other  at 
the  anterior  (chin)  end  by  muscles  and  skin,  while 
at  the  posterior  end  they  are  loosely  connected 
with  the  skull  by  quadrates,  long-hinged  bones 
which  enable  the  mandibles  to  be  protruded  to  a 
great  extent.  The  lower  end  of  the  quadrates  also 
hinge  with  the  pterygoids,  which  themselves  branch 
out  into  four  branches,  the  two  inner  ones  being 
the  palatine  bones,  and  the  outer  ones  the  "  maxil- 
laries." 

The  poison  fangs  of  a  snake  are  shed  frequently  The 
during  its  life  (very  often  about  the  skin-shedding  ^^^'^^gf^ 
period).     As  the  fangs  loosen,  the   teeth  behind,  placing  of 
which  by  this  time  have  reached  almost  their  full  ^^®  ^^"^^• 
growth,  move  forward  and  are  used  in  place  of  the 
original  fangs,  replacing  the  latter  when  they  fall 
out.     If  a    snake   is   killed  at  this  period  and  a 
maxillary  bone  removed  it  will  be  found  that  the 
front  fang  can  be  easily  extracted  from  the  bone 
with  the  fingers,  but  that  the  hinder  fang  will  be 
firmly   welded    on.     In   some  snakes,  usually  old 
ones,    I    have   counted   as    many   as    three    fully 
developed  fangs  on  each  side,  the  front  ones  being 
loose  and  the  back  one  firm. 

Teeth  of  every  stage  of  development  may  be 
found  in  a  snake's  mouth,  and  the  ones  behind 
move  forward  and  replace  any  of  the  front  ones 
that  may  have  become  broken.  When,  therefore, 
people  talk  of  a  snake's  fangs  growing  again  it  is 
incorrect ;  they  do  not  grow  again,  they  are 
replaced. 


i6 


The  injecting 
of  poison. 


Snake-bite. 


Results  of 
Cobra-bite. 


The  salivary  glands  are  situated  along  the 
jaws  and  below  the  teeth,  and  the  saliva  is 
discharged  through  small  openings  in  the  membrane 
surrounding  the  teeth. 

The  poison  glands  are  merely  a  development 
of  the  salivary  glands,  and  vary  in  size  in  the 
different  poisonous  snakes.  In  the  genus  Ad- 
eniophis  (not  found  in  Ceylon)  they  extend  to 
one-third  of  the  way  down  the  body,  but  in  most 
snakes  only  occupy  a  small  portion  of  the  head. 

The  gland  is  situated  below  and  behind  the 
eye,  and  is  connected  with  the  base  of  the  fang  by 
a  small  duct.  When  the  snake  bites,  the  fang 
presses  upon  the  gland,  forcing  out  a  drop  or  two 
of  poison,  which,  flowing  down  the  duct,  enters  the 
canal  in  the  fang  and  comes  out  of  an  oriface  near 
the  point  of  the  tooth. 

The  effect  of,  and  antidotes  for,  snake  poison 
is  a  subject  which  has  been  much  written  about 
and  much  discussed,  but  very  little  has  been 
discovered  about  it. 

The  symptoms  of  death  from  snake  bite  vary 
very  considerably,  and  depend  on  the  amount  of 
poison  injected,  the  part  where  it  was  injected, 
the  condition  of  the  blood  at  the  time  of  the 
injection,  the  size  and  general  condition  of  the 
snake,  together  with  the  amount  of  poison  in 
its  glands  at  the  time,  and  the  condition  and 
general  behaviour  of  the  person  bitten. 

In  most  cases  death  from  the  bite  of  the 
common  cobra  (Naia  Tripudians)  seems  to  be 
almost  painless,  except  for  smarting  in  the  member 
bitten,  as  convulsions  and  suffocation  seldom  take 
place  until  after  the  patient  has  become  unconscious. 

During  my  absence  from  Colombo  the  man  in 
charge  of  my  Serpentarium  disobeyed  orders,  and 
allowed  a  coolie  to  handle  one  of  my  tame  cobras, 
which  bit  him  in  the  hand.     My  servant  at  once 


17 

tied  a  ligature  and  lanced  the  bite,  rubbing  in 
permanganate  of  potash  as  previously  instructed. 
The  coolie  then  went  to  hospital, where  mortification 
of  the  arm  set  in.  He  recovered  after  nearly  two 
months,  but  was  not  able  to  use  his  hand  for  some 
time. 

A  fowl  which  I  once  saw  bitten  in  the  leg  by 
a  cobra  showed  signs  of  sleepiness  after  three 
minutes,  then  sat  down  and  fell  on  its  side  uncon- 
scious, when  spasms  and  signs  of  suffocation 
followed,  the  fowl  respiring  slowly  and  spasmodi- 
cally with  its  mouth  wide  open.  Death  occurred 
about  five  minutes  after  the  fowl  had  been  bitten. 
I  have  seen  a  rat  killed  by  a  cobra,  with  the 
symptoms  above  described.  Death  took  place 
after  thirty  seconds. 

A  Russell's  viper  killed  a  rat  in  twenty  minutes. 
The  rat  kept  becoming  giddy  and  recovering  again, 
but  at  last  fell  over  unconscious,  when  spasms  and 
death  took  place. 

These  are  the  only  deaths  (of  animals)  from 
snake  bite  which  I  have  seen,  and  on  each  occasion 
it  seems  to  have  been  painless,  as  the  animal  was 
unconscious  before  any  visible  symptoms  of  dis- 
comfort took  place.  The  eyes  remained  open,  and 
did  not  close  when  touched.  About  fifteen  minutes 
after  death  the  fur  of  the  rat  and  feathers  of  the 
fowl  became  loose,  probably  due  to  the  mortification 
of  the  flesh  as  a  result  of  the  poison. 

Some  letters  appeared  in  the  Ceylon  Govern- 
ment Directory  relating  to  the  effects  and  cures  for 
snake  bite. 

I  express  no  opinion  as  regards  the  theories, 
but  give  extracts  from  them,  as  they  are  interesting 
and  contain  much  useful  data. 

"  When  about  a  dozen  yards  above  the  stream,  snake^Jte." 
I  stepped  off  a  rock  on  to  a  tuft  of  grass,  when  J^o^  t|ie 
suddenly  from  the  side  of  the  tuft,  a  brownish  flat  Directory." 


i8 

head  struck  at  me  viciously,  but  missed  me  by  a 
few  inches.  I  jumped  back  on  the  rock  badly 
frightened,  for  I  had  recognised  the  snake  as  being 
the  much-dreaded  "tic."*  I  stood  absolutely  still 
for  about  ten  minutes,  peering  about  me  through 
the  tall  grass,  but  could  see  nothing,  though 
several  times  I  heard  rustlings  down  below.  This 
got  on  my  nerves  after  a  bit,  so  taking  a  box  of 
matches  from  my  pocket,  I  set  fire  to  the  grass  all 
round  me,  so  that  I  soon  stood  in  the  centre  of  a 
blackened  clearing.  I  then  cheerfully  lit  my  pipe, 
congratulating  myself  on  my  escape,  and  again 
started  up  the  hill.  I  had  not  gone  more  than  ten 
yards,  when  a  flat,  brown  head  struck  at  me  again, 
and  I  felt  a  sharp  prick  on  my  right  leg  just  above 
my  boot.  Regardless  of  another  bite,  I  leapt  after 
the  snake,  lashing  at  it  with  my  stick  in  a  sudden 
fury.  Then  I  realised  what  had  happened,  and  a 
nasty  cold  feeling  seized  me  and  sweat  stood  on  my 
forehead.  I  knew  that  I  had  only  two  hours  at 
most  to  live,  and  I  felt  an  angry  resentment  against 
fate.  Then  my  presence  of  mind  returned,  and, 
sitting  down,  I  scratched  the  skin  round  the  two 
little  punctures  away  with  my  finger  nails  and 
sucked  as  hard  as  I  could  through  thin  grass  stalks. 
This  probably  saved,  or  helped  to  save,  my  life.  I 
must  have  sucked  out  some  of  the  poison,  as  I  felt 
a  bitter  taste  in  my  mouth.  I  then  turned  and  ran 
back  to  the  bungalow,  which  was  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  away.  Arrived  at  the  foot  of  the 
last  flight  of  steps,  I  turned  suddenly  giddy,  and 
sat  down  on  a  rock.  Summoning  all  my  will  power 
to  help  me,  I  tottered  up  the  verandah  and  yelled 
for  the  *'  boy,"  telling  him  to  bring  whisky  at  once. 

My  friend sent  ofl*  a  cooly 

for  the  nearest  doctor.    I  was  drinking  tumblerfulls 

*  Russeirs  viper. 


19 

of  neat  whisky  all  this  time.  Then  my  leg  went 
quite  numb,  so  I  limped  across  to  the  writing  table 
and  drew  up  a  will,  which  he  signed.  Just  as  I  had 
finished  the  pains  came  on  ;  I  writhed  in  my  chair 

in  agony All   this    time  the  "  boy  ^'   was 

rubbing  my  leg  with  limes,  but  I  could  feel  nothing. 
After  finishing  a  whole  bottle  of  raw  whisky  I  got 
more  or  less  drunk,  which  is  the  only  thing  to  do 

under  the  circumstances I  soon  went 

to  sleep,  then  began  to  turn  grey,  and  my  pulse 
stopped  beating.  The  doctor  injected  strychnine 
and  started  things  off  again.  My  friend  resigned 
himself  to  the  fact  that  I  was  pegging  out,  when 
the  local  barber,  a  Tamil,  ran  up,  saying  he  could 

cure    master He   produced   a   small 

black   stone   shaped   like   an  almond 

First  of  all,  passing  the  palms  of  his  hands  from 
my  head  to  my  feet  several  times,  as  if  hypnotising 
me,  he  then  placed  the  stone  on  the  bitten  place, 
where  it  stuck  like  a  limpet.  After  several  hours 
he  took  off  the  stone  with  great  difficulty  and 
placed  it  in  some  milk,  which  was  quickly  impreg- 
nated with  the  poison.  He  told  me  that  I  had 
been  undoubtedly  bitten  by  a  ticpolonga.  In  the 
middle  of  the  night  the  pains  returned,  and  my 
friend  sent  off  at  once  for  the  barber,  who  went 
through  the  same  operation  as  before,  telling  me 
that  the  stone  would  drop  off  by  itself  in  twelve 
hours.  He  applied  the  stone  at  twenty-five 
minutes  after  midnight,  and  it  dropped  off  at 
twenty  minutes  to  one  the  following  afternoon  ! 
My  leg  is  now  sound  again,  and,  except  for 
occasional  cramp,  causes  me  no  trouble." 

Mr.  E.  E.  Green,  of  Peradeniya,  in  reference 
to  the  poisonous  snakes  of  Ceylon,  writes  as 
follows : — 

*'  But  we  have  more  than  one  species  of 
venomous  snake,  the  bite  of  which  is  seldom,  if 


20 

ever,  fatal.  Our  smaller  viper  (Ancistrodon  Hyp- 
nale)  is  a  case  in  point.  I  have  had  particulars  of 
several  occurrences  of  coolies  bitten  by  this  species. 
Though  the  resulting  symptoms  were  alarming  at 
the  time  (partly  due,  probably,  to  nervous  shock), 
the  patients  recovered  without  any  special  treatment 
having  been  applied.  Boulenger  reports  of  this 
snake,  that  '  its  bite  is  said  to  be  but  exceptionally 
fatal  to  man.'  The  fully-grown  Ancistrodon 
averages  about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length,  and 
bears  a  superficial  resemblance  to  the  large 
'Ticpolonga'  (Vipera  Russellii).  Our  ^  Green 
Tic  '  (Trimeresurus  Trigonocephalus) — though  of 
villainous  appearance — is  still  less  deadly.  It  has 
been  stated  by  an  Indian  authority  that  the  bite  of 
this  snake  is  seldom  followed  by  worse  symptoms 
than  a  severe  headache.  I  have  heard  of  a  man 
who  deliberately  chopped  off  a  finger  after  having 
been  bitten  by  a  *  Green  Tic,'  and  was  satisfied 
that  he  had  saved  his  life  by  so  doing. 

*'  It  may  be  said  that  at  such  a  critical  time 
no  man  would  wait  to  kill  the  snake  ;  but  apart 
from  the  scientific  interest  of  the  determination  of 
every  snake  that  has  bitten  a  man  with  serious 
results,  much  inconvenience,  and  even  some  loss  of 
life,  might  be  avoided  by  the  discovery  that  the 
assailant  was  either  harmless  or  not  fatally 
venomous.  For  there  are  well-established  cases 
of  death  following  upon  the  bite  of  a  non-venomous 
snake — due  to  fright  and  consequent  nervous 
prostration." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  on 
the  "  Snake  stone  "  and  snake  poisons  : — 

"  The  so-called  stone  is  animal  charcoal.  It 
sucks  the  poison  if  applied  immediately  after  the 
bite.  The  bite  of  the  cobra  is  more  dangerous,  in  so 
far  as  the  poison  circulates  more  rapidly,  and  if 
instantaneous  remedies  are  applied  the  poison  is 


21 


soon  got  under.  But  not  so  the  bite  of  the 
Ticpolonga.  It  takes  a  longer  time  for  the  poison 
to  take  effect — from  four  to  ten  hours.  What  I 
mean  is,  while  the  cobra  bite  proves  fatal  within 
three  or  four  hours  if  not  treated,  the  bite  of  the 
Ticpolonga  will  not  kill  a  man  for  about  twelve 
hours  or  so ;  but  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  bring 
out  the  poison  of  the  Tic." 

In  the  ''Visitors'  Book"  in  Nalanda  Rest- 
house  there  is  an  entry  dated  July  24th,  1908, 
evidently  made  by  someone  who  had  been  stopping 
at  the  Resthouse,  mentioning  that  '*  the  Resthouse 
keeper's  son  had  been  bitten  on  the  foot  by  a  large 
cobra ;  that  a  native  doctor  had  been  sent  for  and 
applied  remedies,  but  the  patient  was  in  a  very  bad 
state."  The  writer  also  mentioned  that  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  Resthouse  without  waiting  to 
see  the  outcome  of  the  bite,  but,  that  should  the 
boy  recover,  it  would  be  a  marvellous  cure  and 
should  be  inquired  into. 

It  was  about  three  weeks  afterwards  that  I 
read  the  above  statement  in  the  Resthouse  book, 
and  found  the  patient  (a  youth  of  about  22  years) 
to  be  quite  recovered,  though  the  fang  marks  were 
discernable  in  the  side  of  his  foot.  Upon  inquiry 
I  learnt  that,  although  some  time  had  elapsed 
before  the  arrival  of  the  native  doctor,  and  the  foot 
was  much  swollen,  the  latter  had  managed  to  cure 
him  by  giving  him  herbs  to  eat,  and  by  putting  a 
herb  in  his  own  mouth  and  sucking  the  wound. 
There  was  no  cauterizing  or  lancing.  The  patient 
suffered  extreme  pain  in  the  night,  and  his  leg 
became  much  swollen,  showing  that  the  poison 
must  have  got  well  into  the  wound.  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  doctor  repeated  the  treatment, 
but  the  boy  got  all  right  in  a  day  or  two,  and 
suffered  from  no  subsequent  illness  or  weakness, 
such  as  is  usual  after  receiving  a  large  dose  of 
poison  into  the  system. 


22 

The  doctor  had  a  local  reputation  for  the  cure 
of  snake  bite. 

The  average  number  of  deaths  from  snake- 
bite in  Ceylon  is  about  200  per  annum,  and  when 
the  number  of  deaths  that  occur  in  the  island  from 
other  causes  (about  125,000)  is  taken  into  con- 
sideration, the  mortality  from  snake  bite  seems 
surprisingly  low,  especially  as  the  movements  of 
the  natives  are  practically  noiseless,  and  he  must 
run  considerable  risk,  when  in  the  jungle,  of 
suddenly  stepping  on  to  a  snake  lying  asleep  in  the 
grass.  This  low  mortality  is,  I  believe,  due  to  the 
fact  that,  though  snakes  are  numerous  in  Ceylon, 
the  percentage  of  deadly  specimens  is  exceedingly 
small.  I  consider  the  danger  from  snakes  is  much 
exaggerated,  and  that  the  increasing  spread  of 
rabies  in  the  island  is  a  far  greater  menace  to  its 
population. 

Many  antidotes  have  been  tried  for  the  cure 
of  snake-bite,  but  no  infallible  cure  has  as  yet  been 
found.  Amongst  the  best  remedies  at  present 
relied  on  is  the  injection  of  permanganate  of 
potash  crystals  into  the  wound,  which,  although  a 
very  successful  absorbent  remedy,  is  reported  to 
have  a  poisonous  effect  on  the  blood.  The  injection 
of  strychnine  has  also  been  adopted  with  success. 
When  a  "poison  destroying"  remedy  is  injected 
into  the  blood  a  tight  ligature  should  be  placed 
above  the  wound  (the  longer  the  poison  has  been 
in  the  system  the  higher  the  ligature  should  be 
placed.  This  prevents  the  carrying  of  the  poison 
to  the  lungs  and  heart  by  the  blood,  but  it  also  has 
the  effect  of  concentrating  the  poison  on  the  lower 
portion  of  the  limb,  and  although  it  may  help  to 
save  the  patient's  life,  it  is  liable  to  cause  severe 
gangrene  in  the  portion  below  the  bandage. 

Innoculation,  if  successfully  done,  is  a  great 
safeguard  against  the  effects  of  a  snake-bite,  but 


23 

the  innoculation  is  fraught  with  much  danger, 
being  as  yet  merely  in  the  experimental  stage, 
though  I  fully  believe  it  has  been  practised  for 
many  years  by  Indian  and  Burmese  snake- 
charmers. 

What  is  still  required  for  the  cure  of  snake 
bite  is,  not  so  much  a  remedy — of  which  there  are 
many  good  ones — which  will  absorb  and  neutralize 
the  poison,  but  either  a  means  by  which  this 
neutralizer  may  be  enabled  to  reach  the  poison,  or 
a  treatment  for  keeping  up  the  vitality  of  a  patient 
until  the  poison  becomes  absorbed  by  the  system. 
If  there  has  been  much  delay  after  the  bite,  local 
treatment  is  practically  useless,  and  everything 
depends  on  a  general  treatment  of  the  system. 

The  poison  of  the  Opisthoglypha,  the  back- 
fanged  snakes,  is  so  slight  as  to  be  hardly  notice- 
able to  human  beings  whom  they  have  bitten,  but 
it  probably  paralyses  the  small  birds  and  reptiles 
on  which  they  live.  The  reason  for  this  is  explain- 
able in  the  case  of  the  Tree-snakes,  which  have 
very  thin  skins,  as  the  struggles  of  their  prey  when 
caught  would  probably  injure  the  delicate  skin  of 
their  throats  were  it  not  for  the  poison  contained 
in  the  back  fangs,  which  paralyses  the  victim.  The 
skins  of  some  of  these  snakes  arc  so  delicate  as  to 
be  transparent  when  dry. 

I  have  allowed  specimens  of  Dipsas  and 
Dryophis  to  bite  me,  but  have  never  felt  any 
appreciable  effect  of  the  poison,  but  a  "  bungalow 
servant  "  who  was  bitten  by  a  large  Dryophis 
Mycterizans  suffered  from  local  pain  and  swelling 
for  a  couple  of  days.  A  young  wild  kitten  I  kept 
died  in  great  pain  from  the  bite  of  the  above  snake, 
which  I  found  in  its  box  about  two  hours  after 
receiving  the  bite,  the  symptoms  being  giddiness, 
^followed  by  spasms,  and  insensibility. 


24 


Families. 


Chapter  IV. 

THE   NINE    FAMILIES    OF   SNAKES. 

Snakes  are  divided  into  nine  Families,  which 

in  some  cases  are  divided  again  into  Sub-famiUes. 

The    FamiHes   are   as   follows    (using    Prof. 

Boulenger's  classification)  : — Typhlopidae,   Glau- 

conidae,  Boidae.  Ilysiidae,  Uropeltidae,   Xenopel- 

between^"^    tidac,  Colubridae,  Amblycephalidae,  Viperidae. 

the  Nine  I.  The    Typhlopidue     are     small    cylindrical 

snakes,  with  short  tails  ending  in  a  spike.  They 
belong  to  the  lowest  order  of  snakes,  and  having 
no  ventrals,  resemble  worms.  The  extension  of 
their  jaws  is  exceedingly  limited,  and  they  have 
traces  of  rudimentary  hind  legs,  which,  however, 
are  hidden  under  the  skin. 

2.  Glauconidae. — There  is  only  one  genus  in 
this  family.  The  upper  mandible  in  these  snakes 
greatly  overhangs  the  lower  jaw.  In  other  respects 
they  much  resemble  the  Typhlopidae. 

3.  Boidae. — This  family  is  closely  connected 
with  the  Ilysiidae  in  having  traces  of  rudimentary 
hind  legs,  which,  in  the  genus  Python  are  visible  in 
the  form  of  thorn-like  projections  on  each  side  of 
the  anal.  The  spurs  are  also  visible  in  the  male 
Gongylophis.  The  three  genera  in  the  family, 
Python,  Gongylophis,  and  Eryx,  kill  their  prey  by 
constriction.  Although  large  snakes,  their  rudi- 
mentary hind  legs  and  narrow  ventrals  point  to 
their  close  connection  with  the  Earth-snakes. 

4.  Ilysiidae. — A  family  of  short  cylindrical 
snakes  with  conical  tails,  very  narrow  ventrals,  and 
visible  traces  of  hind  legs. 

5.  Uropeltidae. — This  is  a  large  family,  com- 
posed of  burrowing  snakes  with  cylindrical  bodies, 


25 

short  shield  pointed  tails,  and  very  small  ventrals. 
Some  species  have  beautiful  irridescent  skins. 

6.  Xenopeltidae — Only  one  genus,  and  one 
species.  A  small  irridescent  snake,  with  narrow 
ventrals,  and  with  the  outer  rows  of  scales 
enlarged. 

7.  Coliibridae.  This  is  by  far  the  largest 
family  of  snakes,  and  contains  all  those  species 
that  have  no  striking  peculiarities  such  as  would 
serve  to  classify  them  for  any  other  family.  In 
fact,  one  might  say  that  the  members  of  the 
Colubridae  got  placed  in  that  family  by  the  rediictio 
ad  absicrdtim  method.  The  Colubridae  are  divided 
as  follows  : 

COLUBRID.'E. 


I  I                                                             i 

Aglypha.  Opisthoglypha.  Proteroglypha. 

(Solid  toothed,  (Back  fanged,  (Front  fanged, 

harmless.)  slightly  poisonous.)  very  poisonous.) 


Colubrinae.  Achrochordinae. 


I  I 

Elapinae.  Hyarophiinae. 

Dipsadinse.  Homalopsinae. 


The  Ao[lypha  are  harmless  snakes  with  solid  Sub-divisions 

4-      4-U  oi  the 

teetn.  Colubridae. 

The  Opisthoglypha  have  their  back  teeth 
grooved  for  poison,  and  are  slightly  poisonous. 

The  Proteroglypha  have  well-developed  poison 
fangs  in  the  front  of  their  mouths,  and  are  ex- 
tremely poisonous. 

The  sub-family  Colubrinae  contains  the 
greatest  number  of  the  common  harmless  Colubers, 
including  terrestrial,  semi-aquatic,  and  a  few 
arborial  species  (some  of  the  latter  with  lateral 
keels)  ;  also  several  intermediate  genera  that  link 
the  Colubridae  with  the  Earth-snakes. 

The  semi-aquatic  snakes  (Tropidonotus, 
Helicops,  etc.)  belonging  to  this  sub-family  have 
not  the  construction  of  the  true  water-snake,  but 
resemble  the  rest  of  the  Colubrinae,  though  their 


26 

skin  (in  some  species)  is  somewhat  tightly  welded 
to  the  vertebrae. 

The  Achrochordinae  is  a  small  sub-family  of 
snakes  which  connects  the  semi-aquatic  forms 
mentioned  above  with  the  Sea-snakes. 

These  snakes  are  covered  with  small  tubular 
and  strongly-keeled  scales,  and  some  of  the  genera 
have  no  ventrals,  but  have  slightly  compressed 
tails,  and  resemble  the  Hydrophiinae. 

The  Dipsadinae  belong  to  the  back-fanged 
class.  The  largest  and  most  important  genera  are 
arboreal  (Dipsas,  Dryophis,  Chrysopelea),  and  have 
compressed  bodies. 

The  Homalopsinae  are  the  true  fresh-water 
snakes,  with  nostrils  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 
snout,  and  rather  compressed  tails.  They  also 
belong  to  the  back-fanged  group. 

The  Elapinae  are,  apart  from  the  Bungarums, 
better  represented  in  Australia  than  in  the  East. 
They  are  poisonous  front-fanged  Colubers,  and 
include  many  of  the  most  deadly  snakes  in 
existence. 

They  are  regular  in  shape,  except  for  the 
genus  Callophis,  which  is  composed  of  small  thin 
snakes  that  in  outward  appearance  resemble  earth 
snakes,  are  often  known  as  Coral  snakes,  and  are 
most  numerous  in  Australia.  The  Elapinae,  by 
the  way,  are  all  terrestrial. 

The  Hydrophiinae  are  the  sea-snakes  proper, 
front-fanged,  and  very  deadly,  with  granule-like 
scales,  flat  tails,  and  no  ventrals. 

This  concludes  the  family  Colubridae. 

8.  The  A  mblycephalidae  are  blunt-headed  snakes 
with  compressed  bodies.  They  can  only  expand 
their  jaws  slightly,  have  no  mental  groove,  and  are 
harmless. 

9,  The  Viperidae.  This  family  is  divided  into 
two  sub-families  (i)  Viperinae,  (2)  Crotalinae.  The 


27 


latter  are  distinguishable  by  the  pit  they  have 
between  the  eye  and  the  nostril,  and  are  commonly 
known  as  "  Pit  Vipers/'  All  vipers  are  very 
poisonous,  and  have  enlarged  fangs,  capable  of 
being  erected  or  depressed,  and  a  well-developed 
poison  apparatus. 


Table  of  the  Terrestrial  Genera  of  Ceylon. 


1 

Typhlopidse 


2  3  4  5  6 

Boidae  Ilysiidae  Uropeltidae     Colubridae      Viperidae 


1  Typhlops     2  (a)  Python  3  Cylindrophis  4  Uropeltis 

5  Silybura 

6  Rhinophis 


(Aglypha) 


(Opisthoglypha) 


[Viperinae]  |  [Crotalinae] 

I  I 

7  Vipera  9  Ancistrodon 

8  Echis   10  (a)  Trimeresurus 


(Proteroglypha) 


[Colutrinae] 


[Dipsadinae]       [Homalopsinas]  [Elapinse] 


24  {a)  Dipsas  27  (aq)  Cerberus        29  Callophis 

25  (a)  Dryophis       28  (aq)  Hypsirhina    30  Bungarus 

26  {a)  Chrysopelea  31  Naia 


(a)  Arboreal 

{sq)  Semi-aquatic 

{aq)  Aquatic 

[    ]   means  Sub-Family 


1 1  Aspidura 

12  Haplocercus 

13  Lycodon 

14  Hydrophobus 

15  Polyodontophis 

16  Ablabes 

17  SinK>tes 

18  Oligodon 

19  Zamenis 

20  {a)  Coluber 

21  (a)  Dendrophis 

22  (sq)  Tropidonotus 

23  (sq)  Helicops 

The  Acrochordinae  are  not  represented  in 
Ceylon,  except  by  Chrysydrus  Granulatus,  which, 
being  practically  a  Sea-snake  in  its  construction 
and  habits,  I  have  omitted,  together  with  the 
Hydrophiinae.  Gerardia  Prevostiana  I  have  also 
omitted,  its  existence  in  Ceylon  being  doubtful. 


28 


Chapter  V. 

A  SIMPLE  MEANS  OF  IDENTIFYING 
THE  POISONOUS  SNAKES  OF  CEYLON 
WITHOUT  SCIENTIFIC  KNOWLEDGE. 

There  are  many  people  who  are  desirous  of 
identifying  the  poisonous  varieties  of  Ceylon 
snakes  when  met  with,  but  are  unwilling  to  make  a 
detailed  study  of  head-shields,  scaling,  and  den- 
tition, etc.,  necessary  for  the  identification  of  a 
snake.  In  order  to  identify  a  snake  by  scientific 
methods,  it  is  also  necessary  to  catch  or  kill  it, 
which  many  people  are  unwilling  or  unable  to  do. 

The   dangerous   snakes    of    Ceylon — that   is, 

those  which  will  or  are  liable  to  cause  death  are 

so  few,  however,  that  it  is  comparatively  easy  to 

recognise  them. 

Brief  identi-  I.  Naia  Tripudians  (Common  Cobra).     This 

fheP°ote°o-    ^s  the  most  common  and  the  most  virulent  of  the 

giyphaand    poisonous  snakcs  of  Ceylon,  and  is  easily  recog- 

iperi  ae.      disable  by  anyone  who  has  once  examined  one. 

It  is  a  thickish  snake  of  black,  brown,  or  grey, 
with  a  dilatable  neck  (or  hood)  marked  with  a 
white  inverted  spectacle  pattern,  often  on  a  pinkish 
background.  The  under  surface  is  crossed  with 
wide  black  bars. 

The  only  snake  that  at  all  resembles  it  is  the 
harmless  Zamenis  Mucosus  (Rat-snake),  though  no 
one  who  has  ever  compared  the  two  is  likely  to 
confuse  them. 

The  Zamenis,  in  addition  to  differing  in  the 
shape  of  the  body  and  head,  has  no  black  bars  on 
its  under-surface,  and  its  neck  is  not  dilatable  to 
any  great  extent. 


29 

2.  The  Vipera  Rusellii  (Brown  Tic-polonga). 
This  snake,  though  less  virulent  than  the  cobra, 
is  more  deadly,  owing  to  the  superior  length  of  its 
poison  fangs,  which  enable  it  to  inject  its  poison 
deeper  into  the  system,  and  makes  a  cure  of  the 
bitten  person  more  difficult. 

This  viper  is  perhaps  the  easiest  snake  to 
recognise,  on  account  of  its  short,  fat  body,  stumpy 
tail,  and  the  black,  chain-like  pattern  along  its 
back.  It  has  a  series  of  large  black  blotches  or 
spots  along  each  side,  and  the  head  is  triangular 
and  scale-covered. 

3.  Bungams  Ceylonicus.  This  snake  is  very 
deadly,  and  belongs  to  a  genus  which  is  consider- 
ably better  represented  in  India  than  in  Ceylon, 
where  only  two  varieties  are  found.  The  colour  is 
black,  with  white  rings,  and  the  belly  of  the  young 
is  uniformly  white. 

The  Bungarus  is  liable  to  be  confused  with 
the  harmless  Lycodon  Aulicus.  The  former,  how- 
ever, has  a  round  head,  with  eyes  far  forward,  and 
(if  an  adult)  black  bars  underneath.  The  latter  has 
a  pear-shaped  head,  eyes  rather  far  back,  and  is 
uniform  white  on  the  belly. 

4.  The  Bungams  Caeruleics  is  rarely  met  with, 
so  a  detailed  description  is  unnecessary.  It  is  like 
the  above,  only  that  the  belly  is  uniformly  white, 
and  the  rings  are  closer  together. 

5.  Trmeresurus  Trigonocephalus  (Green  Tic- 
polonga).  The  Trimeresurus  is  not  by  any  means 
always  deadly  in  its  bite  ;  in  fact,  human  beings 
usually  recover.  It  is  a  bright  green  snake,  with 
black  spots  or  blotches  along  the  back.  Its  head 
is  pear-shaped,  very  distinct  from  the  neck,  and 
covered  with  scales.  The  under-surface  is  yellowish, 
and  the  tail  short  and  very  prehensile. 

6.  Ancistrodon  Hypnale.  Seldom  fatal  in  its 
bite.     A  short  thick-set  viper,   with  an  upturned 


30 

snout.  It  is  of  a  brownish  ash-colour,  with  large 
black  spots  ranged  alternately  on  either  side  of  its 
back.  The  head  is  triangular,  very  distinct  from 
the  neck,  covered  with  scale-like  shields,  and  with 
small  white  lines  along  the  upper  lips.  The  black 
spots  are  often  almost  invisible  in  the  young. 

7.  Echis  Carinata.  A  rare  snake,  found  only 
in  Jaffna  and  the  dry  portions  of  the  Island.  Being 
seldom  seen,  only  a  brief  description  is  necessary. 

A  short,  brown,  round-headed  viper,  with 
white  festoon  markings  along  the  sides ;  the  apices 
of  which  are  joined  across  the  back  by  narrow 
white  lines.  The  scales  are  very  strongly  keeled, 
and  the  snake  makes  a  sawing  sound  by  rubbing 
two  portions  of  its  body  together, 

8.  Callophis  TvimaciUatus,  Very  few  specimens 
of  this  snake  have  been  found  in  Ceylon.  I 
obtained  two  specimens  near  Matale,  and  other 
specimens  have  been  found  at  Tissamaharama 
and  Trincomalee.  Although  poisonous  thiS  snake 
is  so  small  and  slender  that  the  teeth  cannot  pierce 
the  skin.  It  is  light  brown  above,  with  small 
spots  along  and  on  each  side  of  the  back.  The 
under-surface  is  scarlet,  with  a  black  band  at  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  tail,  the  under-surface  of 
the  tail  being  bright  blue. 

Although  the  recognised  poisonous  snakes  in 
Ceylon  are  eight  in  number.  Major  Wall  mentions 
one  other  in  his  book,  "  The  Poisonous  Terrestial 
Snakes  of  our  British  India  Dominions  " — Ancis- 
trodon  Millardi  (Millard's  Viper).  As  it  resembles 
the  Ancistrodon  Hypnale  very  closely,  this  variety 
has  either  escaped  the  notice  of  the  authorities  on 
Eastern  snakes,  or  has  been  recognised  as  a 
variation  of  the  Ancistrodon  Hypnale,  and  not  as 
a  separate  variety.  Trimeresurus  Gramineus  has 
also  been  reported  from  Ceylon,  but  its  existence 
in  the  country  is  doubtful.     It  may  be  mentioned 


31 

that  all  the  poisonous  snakes  of  Ceylon  have 
broad  ventrals  (as  well  as  many  harmless  varieties), 
the  ventrals  being  so  broad  that  if  turned  on  its 
back  the  outer  rows  of  scales  of  the  snake  are 
invisible,  except  in  one  or  two  places. 


32 


Chapter  VI. 

SNAKE    HUNTING,    SKINNING    AND 

PRESERVING. 

For  those  who  are  desirous  of  obtaining 
snakes,  either  for  bottling,  skinning,  or  keeping 
alive,  the  following  methods  of  capture  may  be 
recommended,  and  the  following  necessary  point 
borne  in  mind — that  when  snake  hunting  it  is  less 
important  to  go  where  there  are  a  great  many 
snakes  than  to  go  where  the  nature  of  the  country 
facilitates  seeing  and  catching  of  them,  even  if  the 
snakes  there  are  fewer  in  number. 
Cobra  The  Cobva.     Being  seldom  met  with,  a  cobra 

^^  ^^^'  is  best  obtained  by  digging  one  out  of  an  antheap 
or  hole;  The  cobra  must  have  been  seen  to  have 
entered  the  hole  a  short  time  before,  as  it  is  their 
custom  to  change  their  holes  frequently.  The 
presence  of  a  newly-shed  skin  is  often  the  clue  to 
a  hole  where  a  snake  is  living. 

It  is  most  advisable  to  dig  out  a  cobra  in  wet 
w^eather,  as  the  earth  is  softer,  and  the  snake  is 
more  likely  to  be  in  its  hole  at  that  time.  You 
should  not  attempt  to  dig  out  an  anthill  before 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  or  after  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  as  the  snake  will  probably  be  out 
hunting  then.  It  is  seldom  that  cobras  lie  out 
under  a  hot  sun  except  after  wet  weather.  (All 
the  cobras  I  have  kept,  and  I  have  kept  at  different 
times  between  twenty  and  thirty,  have  shown  a 
distinct  dislike  to  strong  sunlight,  and  have  always 
chosen  the  shady  portions  of  their  cages  to  lie  in,) 
Taking  a  man  with  you,  you  approach  the 
antheap,  making  a  certain  amount  of  noise  so  as 
to  frighten  the  cobra  back  into  its  hole  should  it 


33 

happen  to  be  out  at  that  time.  If  the  antheap 
happens  to  be  on  the  side  of  a  hill  the  snake  is 
almost  certain  to  retreat  downhill  after  breaking 
cover.  The  earth  from  the  anthill  should  be  thrown 
on  the  lower  side  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  barricade. 

It  is  seldom  that  a  snake  will  show  itself  until 
the  last  hole  of  the  anthill  has  been  dug  out  (and 
thereby  thoroughly  explodes  the  theory  of  the 
vicious  disposition  of  serpents).  Care  should  be 
taken  that  all  the  holes  of  the  antheap  are  either 
watched  or  blocked  up  ;  sometimes  there  is  a  long 
underground  passage  terminating  in  an  exit  in 
some  adjoining  jungle,  and  the  cobra  escapes  by 
this  exit,  which  has  probably  not  been  detected  by 
the  watchers. 

Cobras  are  very  clever  in  escaping  detection, 
and  as  you  dig  out  the  different  portions  of  the 
antheap  the  snake  will  escape  unperceived  by  a 
passage  into  a  different  portion,  and  will  probably 
be  eventually  discovered  coiled  up  at  the  extreme 
end  of  the  last  hole.  It  is  nearly  always  necessary 
to  dig  out  practically  the  whole  antheap  before  the 
snake  is  seen,  and  very  often  the  entrance  of  the 
occupied  hole  gets  stopped  up  by  earth  from  the 
rest  of  the  antheap,  and  one  goes  away  in  disgust, 
under  the  impression  that  the  entire  antheap  has 
been  dug  out,  and  that  it  was  unoccupied  at  the 
time  of  digging. 

After  everyone  has  gone,  and  when  night  is 
falling,  the  cobra  burrows  its  way  out  of  the  hole 
(probably  laughs,  if  a  snake  is  capable  of  such  an 
action)  and  betakes  itself  to  a  safer  habitation. 

A  cobra  seldom  breaks  cover  at  once.  It 
usually  puts  its  head  out  of  the  hole  and  then 
withdraws  it.  When  it  makes  a  dash  for  liberty  it 
will  be  somewhat  delayed  by  the  barrier  of  earth 
(formed  from  the  portion  of  the  anthill  that  has 
been  broken  up). 


34 

Should  it  attempt  to  escape  uphill  (which  is 
very  unlikely)  it  can  be  easily  captured,  as  snakes 
cannot  move  fast  uphill. 

If  it  is  to  be  kept  alive  you  should  capture  the 

cobra  by  pinning  it  to  the  ground  with  your  stick 

placed  across  its  body.     Another  stick  should  be 

placed  across  its  head  (and  should  it  manage  to 

wriggle  forward  it  can  be  drawn  back  by  the  tail 

until  the  head  is  under  the  stick).     A  forked  stick 

comes  in  useful  for  placing  upon  the  head,  but  is 

not  necessary.     Then  take  the  snake  firmly  behind 

the  head,  your  thumb  and  finger  being  on  each  side 

of  the  neck,  and  not  above  and  underneath  the 

neck,  as  the  snake  could  turn  its  head  laterally 

and  run  its  fangs  in.     This  action  should  be  done 

quickly  but  not  hurriedly  or   nervously.     It  is  a 

good  plan,  and  a  great  safeguard,  to  fling  a  bit  of 

cloth   into   the    snake's   mouth    before    taking    it 

behind  the  head.      It  will  at  once  bite  at  the  stuff, 

and  should  it  slip  its  head  from  under  the  stick  at  a 

critical  moment  will  be  hindered  from  biting,  its 

teeth  being  caught  in  the  cloth.     The  fangs  may 

be  cut  off  with  scissors  without  injury  to  the  snake, 

if  a  fangless  specimen   is  preferred,   but   the  old 

fangs  will  be  replaced  by  new  ones  in   about   a 

month's  time. 

A  forked  stick  is  not  of  much  use  to  capture  a 
snake  with,  though  it  comes  in  useful  afterwards, 
as  it  is  difficult  to  pin  a  snake  that  is  travelling  at 
all  fast,  and  undulating  laterally,  with  a  forked 
stick. 
Smoking  out  Driving   snakes   out   of   holes   by    means    of 

Snakes.  smokc  is  an  unsatisfactory  proceeding.  It  takes  a 
lot  of  smoke  to  have  any  effect  on  a  snake,  owing 
to  the  latter's  large  lung  capacity.  The  snake  will 
often  die  in  its  hole,  especially  when  sulphur  is 
used. 

On  several  occasions  I  have  tried  ''smoking 


3S 

out  "  snakes,  but  seldom  with  any  success.  On 
the  few  occasions  on  which  I  managed  to  drive 
cobras  out  of  their  holes  by  it,  the  smoke  was  so 
suffocating  and  so  blinding  that  the  capture  of  the 
snakes  was  extremely  difficult  and  somewhat  risky. 
On  another  occasion  I  attempted  to  dislodge  a 
cobra  and  a  variety  of  Dipsas  from  the  roof  of  a 
native  hut  by  fastening  chatties  filled  with  lighted 
sulphur  under  the  thatch.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
house  were  nearly  suffocated,  and  so  were  the 
people  next  door,  but  the  snakes  did  not  mind, 
although  smoke  was  passing  in  great  clouds 
through  the  roof. 

The  Python  is  extremely  difficult  to  obtain  Python 
when  required,  and  often  much  patience,  enquiry  ^^^^  '"^' 
and  hard  work  is  necessary  before  a  specimen  is 
obtained.  It  is  of  course  necessary  to  know 
something  about  the  habits  of  a  snake  before 
attempting  to  catch  it ;  I  therefore  append  a  brief 
account  of  its  manner  of  hunting  when  in  its  wild 
state. 

There  is  only  one  variety  of  Python  found  in 
Ceylon — the    P.    Molurus.       It    inhabits   swampy 
districts  and  places  where  there  is  a  heavy  rainfall,  its  habits 
and  is  often  found  lying  in  jungle  ponds  with  only  when  wild, 
its  nose  exposed  above  the  water. 

As  the  sun  begins  to  set  the  snake  glides  from 
the  water.  There  is  no  noise,  only  a  track  of 
crushed  grass  to  show  where  the  Python  has  been. 
It  reaches  the  jungle  and,  its  yellow  and  black 
skin  blending  with  the  shadow  and  sunlight, 
disappears. 

A  deer  comes  down  the  game  track  on  its  way 
to  the  pool  to  drink.  The  small  clump  of  long 
grass  arouses  no  suspicion,  not  being  large  enough 
to  conceal  a  leopard. 

Yet  within  that  clump  the  python  lies  coiled 
like  a  spring,  its  flat  head  slightly  raised,  and  its 


36 

powerful  neck  curved  back,   ready   to   make   the 
lightning  stroke. 

The  deer  approaches  and  reaches  the  grass. 
A  flash  of  yellow,  a  choking  cry,  and  it  lies  gasping 
its  life  out  in  the  deadly  coils  of  the  Python  which 
has  seized  it,  rolled  it  over,  and  wound  round  it 
like  cotton  round  a  reel.     A  little  more   gasping 
and  it  is  over.     Slowl}^  the  coils  relax,  and  the  flat 
pink    head   shakes   its   teeth    loose   of   the   deer's 
throat.      Then  slowly  and  deliberately  the  Python 
starts  to  move  its  nose  over, under  and  about  the 
deer,  salivermg  it,  so  as  to  digest  it  easily.     This 
occupies  ten  minutes  or  so,  then  the  swallowing 
commences.      Grasping  the  deer  by  the  head,  and 
flinging  its  coils  over  the  body,  so  as  to  break  the 
bones,   first  one  side  of  the  jaw  is  projected  and 
then  the  other.      Caught  by  the  hooked  teeth,  the 
deer  slowly,  very  slowly,  is  drawn  down  the  snake's 
throat,  being  again  crushed  in  the  process  by  the 
muscles  of  the  gullet,  the  Python's  mouth  being  at 
this  time  extended  to  nearly  twice  its  normal  size. 

■         •         •         •         •         • 

Half  an  hour  passes,  and  the  Python,  much 
distended  about  the  centre  of  its  body,  fades  again 
into  sunshine  and  shadow  to  sleep  off  its  meal. 

Suitable  The  Python  may  be  obtained  in  several  ways, 

cruntl-y"''  t>ut  it  is,  of  coursc,  necessary  to  choose  the  right 
type  of  country  to  hunt  in.  The  wide  stretches  of 
grass  and  scrub  lying  between  a  ''Tank"  (artificial 
lake)  and  the  large  surrounding  jungle,  are  perhaps 
the  best,  not  because  there  are  likely  to  be  most 
pythons  there,  but  that  if  there  are  any,  you  are 
more  likely  to  see  and  catch  them  in  such  a 
country.  The  place  chosen  must,  of  course,  be 
beyond  the  disturbance  of  civilization. 

The    evening    is    the  best   time    for  python- 
hunting,    especially   after  a  shower    of   rain,    and 


37 

you  may  employ  two  methods.  One  is  to  walk 
quietly  along  the  game-tracks  just  inside  the  main 
jungle  (the  edges  of  the  jungle  are  more  accessible 
than  the  interior,  and  there  is  less  likelihood  of 
getting  lost,  with  greater  facilities  for  the  capture 
of  any  snakes  seen  and  required).  A  sharp  look 
out  should  be  kept  along  the  game  tracks  and 
under  the  bushes  and  undergrowth,  for  any  python 
that  may  be  lying  in  wait  for  game  that  is  going 
down  to  the  '*  Tank "  to  drink,  or  is  sleeping 
stretched  out  across  a  path,  after  a  gorge. 

A  python  when  disturbed,  and  retreating 
through  the  jungle,  makes  a  noise  resembling  the 
dragging  of  heavy  sacks  along  the  ground.  If 
alarmed,  and  moving  rapidly,  when  approached,  it 
must  be  seized  by  the  tail,  and  an  attempt  made 
to  press  its  head  against  the  ground  with  your 
foot,  or,  if  accompanied  by  a  coolie,  a  stick  can  be 
placed  by  him  across  the  snake's  head.  It  should 
then  be  taken  and  held  by  the  neck  with  one  hand 
and  by  the  tail  with  the  other.  Of  course  it  will 
attempt  to  bite,  and  when  seized  will  attempt  to 
crush,  but  this  sort  of  thing  has  to  be  chanced,  and 
adds  to  the  excitement,  for  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  excitement,  especially  with  a  large 
python,  but  it  does  not  do  to  get  excited. 

The  way  to  capture  a  python,  without  injury 
either  to  oneself  or  the  python,  cannot  be  ex- 
plained, but  can  only  be  learnt  by  practice,  and 
even  then  there  is  the  likelihood  of  being  bitten. 

Except  in  the  case  of  a  very  large  python, 
there  is  no  danger,  though  the  latter  is  capable  of 
inflicting  a  very  severe  bite,  tearing  up  the  muscles 
with  its  curved  teeth,  and  probably  disabling  the 
member  bitten  for  some  time  to  come.  If,  when 
catching  a  python,  you  are  seized  by  it,  you  should 
at  once  release  your  hold  of  the  snake,  when  it  will 
in  all  probability  leave  go  of  you,  in  order  to 
escape. 


38 

If  the  snake  is  found  asleep  in  the  jungle,  it 
can  often  be  captured  without  any  trouble,  if 
approached  quietly  and  seized  suddenly.  It  is 
easiest  to  catch  a  python  after  it  has  had  a  meal,  as 
it  is  less  liable  to  strike  or  try  to  escape. 
Beating  Another  method  of  catching  these  snakes  is  to 

cooUes^^^^^  set  out  in  the  evening,  accompanied  by  some 
coolies,  and  beat  the  land  round  the  "  Tank  "  in  the 
following  manner  : — The  coolies  should  walk  in  an 
oblique  line,  stretching  from  the  tank  to  the  jungle, 
and  should  move  parallel  as  much  as  possible  with 
both.  Taking  the  space  to  be  covered  (between 
tank  and  jungle)  to  be  loo  yards  in  width,  the  first 
coolie  should  move  alongside  the  tank,  and  a  few 
yards  from  it.  The  second  coolie  should  be  about 
25  yards  away  (to  the  side)  of  the  first  coolie,  and 
about  5  yards  behind  him,  the  third  coolie  should 
be  25  yards  from  the  second,  and  five  yards 
behind  him,  the  fourth  coolie  should  be  25  yards 
away  from  the  third  and  five  yards  behind  him, 
and  the  fifth — the  person  who  is  to  catch  the 
snake — should  walk  alongside  the  jungle. 

The  first  two  men  should  make  a  certain 
amount  of  noise,  the  other  two  should  be  com- 
paratively quiet ;  the  man  by  the  jungle  should  be 
as  silent  as  possible. 

Any  snake  that  may  be  drinking  water,  or 
catching  frogs,  by  the  side  of  the  **  Tank,"  will,  on 
hearing  the  first  man  approach,  make  a  fairly 
straight  line  back  to  the  jungle.  The  first  man 
will  at  that  time  be  about  eight  yards  from  the 
snake,  and  the  man  near  the  jungle  will  be  twenty 
yards  behind  the  line  of  the  first  man.  The  snake 
will  probably  retreat  at  a  rate  of  from  six  to  seven 
miles  an  hour,  or  perhaps  a  little  less,  and  as  the 
men  will  be  walking  at  a  pace  of  two  miles  an 
hour,  the  snake  will  pass  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
man  near  the  jungle,  who  will  attempt  to  catch  or 


39 

kill  it,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Other   snakes   may   be   caught   in  the  above 
manner  also. 

Other  methods  of  catching  snakes  are  :     to  o^^^'^ 
stalk   them  while  laying  asleep  under  bushes,  to  snake 
take  them  by  surprise  when  lying  across  roads  (fast  catching, 
walking  is  necessary,  and   the    snake,    imagining 
that  it  has  not  time  to  escape,  lies  still,  trusting  in 
its    protective    colouration    to    save    it),    and   to 
ambush  them  at  waterholes  (a  tedious  process)  ;  to 
search  under  logs  and  brushwood,  and  to  burn  or 
cut  down  jungle. 

The  latter  is  by  far  the  most  satisfactory  way, 
but  it  is  not  always  possible,  and  when  it  is,  comes 
rather  expensive.     The  snake  that  gives  the  most  zamenis 
sport  when  catching  it  is  the  large  Rat-snake,  in  Mucosus. 
spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  harmless. 

Although  Rat-snakes  are  found  all  over 
Ceylon,  it  is  preferable  to  hunt  them  on  an  estate 
at  an  altitude  of  about  three  or  four  thousand  feet, 
as  the  up-country  Rat-snakes  grow  to  a  very  large 
size,  and  considerably  more  sport  is  obtainable  by 
catching  them  in  a  difficult  rock-covered  country 
than  in  the  flat  lowlands.  I  suggested  hunting 
them  on  an  estate  because  practically  all  the  land 
at  that  elevation  which  is  not  cultivated  is  jungle, 
which  latter  grows  too  densely  on  the  mountains  to 
permit  of  snake-hunting  being  possible. 

If  the  country  is  difficult,  the  assistance  of  a 
few  coolies  is  necessary.  Often  when  walking 
along  quietly  a  snake  may  be  seen  lying  like 
a  black  streak  across  the  mountain  path,  with  its 
head  under  a  bush  to  protect  its  lidless  eyes  from 
the  glare  of  the  sun.  As  you  approach  the  serpent 
will  slowly  draw  its  body  across  the  track  and 
retreat  down  the  slope.  If  you  can  reach  it  in 
time  you  may  take  it  by  the  tail,  but  once  the 
snake  knows  that  it  has  been  seen  the  slow  gliding 


40 

motion  will  give  way  to  a  whip-like  lashing  as  the 
serpent  retreats  down  the  hill.  If  the  latter  is 
steep,  and  the  ground  bad,  the  chances  of  catching 
the  snake  will  be  practically  nil,  unless  you  have 
coolies  lower  down,  who  will  drive  it  so  that  it  will 
move  along  the  hillside  instead  of  downhill.  The 
reptile  may  be  cornered  or  taken  by  the  tail  as  it  is 
entering  a  hole  in  the  rocks.  If  the  snake  is  a 
large  one  (of  some  seven  or  eight  feet  in  length) 
and  gets  its  body  well  into  the  hole  some  little  time 
may  elapse  before  you  can  draw  it  out,  for  when 
once  a  snake  has  got  a  hold,  however  slight,  for  its 
body  or  its  coils  its  power  of  traction  is  tremendous. 

If  a  Rat-snake  of  some  eight  feet  in  length  gets 
its  coils  round  a  raised  beam  it  can,  with  the 
posterior  portion  of  its  body,  draw  up,  for  several 
inches,  a  man  weighing  nine  stone. 

This  sounds  incredible,  but  if  anyone  dis- 
believes me  they  should  get  two  strong  men  and 
tell  them  to  try  and  pull  out,  to  full  length,  a  large 
and  uninjured  Rat-snake. 

When  you  eventually  get  your  snake  out  the 
trouble  will  begin.  A  Rat-snake  when  caught  or 
cornered  becomes  extremely  savage,  and  will 
therefore  give  you  a  lively  time.  Retaining  your 
hold  of  the  tail,  you  must  endeavour  to  put  either 
your  foot  or  a  stick  on  the  snake's  head  without 
injuring  it. 

The  snake,  on  the  other  hand,  will  have  no 
scruples  about  inflicting  injury,  and  (being 
supported  by  its  tail)  will  keep  drawing  its  body 
up  and  striking  repeatedly  at  your  face.  The 
snake  must  be  made  to  miss  its  aim  by  jerking  the 
tail,  and  the  blows  parried  with  a  stick. 

The  head  having  been  eventually  pinned  to 
the  ground,  and  the  neck  seized,  the  serpent  will 
coil  round  your  wrist,  and  bringing  its  full  power 
into   play,    in    an    ingenious  manner,  attempt  to 


41 

force  your  fingers  off  its  neck. 

The  skin  of  the  Rat-snake  is  not  worth 
keeping  unless  it  is  a  very  large  one,  and  the 
snake  is  only  worth  hunting  for  the  amusement 
afforded. 

Most  of  the  "hill"  Rat-snakes  have  white 
ventrals,  while  most  of  those  found  in  the  low 
country  have  yellow  ones. 

Water-snakes   can   be   caught   in   the  water-  catching 
courses  adjoining  paddyfields,  but  there  is  much  water-snakes 
likelihood  of  being  bitten,  as  these  snakes  are  very 
quick  in  striking.     When  landed  they  will   often 
proceed  along  the  ground  by  a  series  of  leaps. 

Snakes  may  be  either  bottled  in  spirits,  stuffed  Bottling 
or  skinned.     Bottling  is  somew^hat  unsatisfactory,  specimens 
as  the  snake  is  liable  to  lose  its  colour,  change  its 
shape  sometimes,  lose  its  scales,  and  even  decom- 
pose after  the  spirit  has  become  weak,  in  addition 
to   which   only   small   snakes   can    be    preserved, 
owing  to  the  large  amount  of  spirit  required  in 
proportion  to  the  size  of  the  snake.    Snakes  should 
not  be  bottled  straight  off,  but  be  allowed  to  soak 
m  spirit  before  being  finally  placed  in  a  bottle  filled 
with    fresh    spirit.      Dr.    Nicholson,    in    his    book, 
"  Indian  Snakes,"  recommends  the  following  mix- 
ture as  a  preservative  : — Rum  or  arrack  (20  to  30 
under  proof),  and  added  to  which  either  4  per  cent, 
of  carbolic  acid  or  2  per  cent,  of  carbolic  acid  and 
I   per   cent   of   arsenic.     An  objection  to  bottled 
specimens  is  that  they  occupy  a  great  deal  of  room 
and  are  difficult  to  pack. 

Stuffing  a  snake  is  somewhat  difficult,  and  can  stuffing, 
only  be  done  satisfactorily  to  certain  varieties ; 
even  then  the  head  is  liable  to  be  mounted  in 
quite  a  different  shape  to  what  it  was  in  when  the 
snake  was  alive.  Stuffed  specimens,  like  bottled 
ones,  take  up  a  great  deal  of  room,  and  should  be 
kept   in   glass   cases  in  order  to  remain  in  good 


42 

condition.  This  method  of  preservation  is  some- 
what expensive,  especially  if  a  good  taxidermist  is 
employed. 

In  my  opinion  the  best  thing  to  do  with 
a  snake  is  simply  to  take  its  skin.  Of  course  it  is 
impossible  to  get  so  good  an  idea  of  the  shape  of 
the  snake's  body  as  it  is  with  a  bottled  specimen, 
but  as  the  skin  retains  its  colour  (in  most  cases), 
and  the  head  can  be  retained  in  its  original  shape 
by  the  non-extraction  of  the  bones  of  the  skull,  one 
can  judge  very  closely  what  the  appearance  of  the 
specimen  was  when  alive. 
Skinning.  The  bcst  method  of  skinning  a  snake  is  as 

follows : — Take  a  point  above  the  end  of  the  tail 
(just  where  it  is  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  wide 
in  the  case  of  a  large  snake,  and  at  a  corresponding 
proportional  point  if  a  small  snake)  and  cut  from 
there,  along  the  centre  of  the  subcaudals  to  the 
ventrals.  Cut  along  the  centre  of  the  ventrals,  tfo 
ihe  juncture  of  the  lower  jawbones.  Now  take  the 
point  where  the  incision  was  started,  and  cut 
through  the  flesh  and  muscle,  between  the 
vertebrae,  so  that  the  end  of  the  tail  is  connected 
with  the  remainder  of  the  snake  by  only  the  skin 
itself.  Taking  the  end  of  the  tail  in  one  hand  and 
the  severed  mass  of  flesh  and  vertebrae  in  the 
other,  proceed  to  pull  the  skin  ofl"  the  latter  until 
the  ventrals  are  reached,  where  there  will  be  re- 
sistance. Here  you  must  cut  through  muscles, 
and  the  anal  attachments,  until  the  skin  is  free 
again,  when  it  will  pull  off  easily  until  the  back  of 
the  head  is  reached.  Here  separate  the  head  from 
the  skinless  body  of  the  snake,  by  dislocating  the 
first  or  second  vertebra,  and  cutting  through  all 
attachments  but  the  skin.  Some  of  the  soft  portion 
of  the  inside  of  the  head  should  be  scraped  away, 
but  the  rest  will  dry  up,  as  will  the  eyes. 

The  advantage  of  this  method  of  skinning  is, 


43 

that  you  have  the  head  in  its  original  shape,  and 
the  whole  tail  can  be  obtained.  The  narrow  uncut 
portion  of  the  tail  will  dry  up  if  there  is  not  too 
much  fat  on  it,  in  which  case  drying  may  be 
facilitated  by  opening  the  subcaudals  down  to  the 
tip. 

The  Rat-snake  is  somewhat  difftcult  to  skin, 
owing  to  the  close  welding  of  the  epidermis  to  the 
flesh. 

The  water-snakes,  Helicops  Schistosus  and 
Tropidonotus  Quincunciatus,  are  difficult  to  skin 
for  the  same  reason,  and  the  skin  has  to  be  sepa- 
rated from  each  vertebra  with  scissors.  The  least 
pulling  on  the  skin  of  the  above  two  snakes  will 
cause  it  to  break.     When  dry  the  skin  is  stronger. 

The  skull  of  a  snake  cannot  be  taken  com- 
plete, like  that  of  an  animal,  as  it  is  formed  of 
many  small  bones,  that  fall  apart  after  the  soft 
tissues  have  been  removed. 

"  Stretching"  is  best  done  as  follows  : — 

After  the  skin  has  been  taken,  stretch  a  string  stretching. 
down  the  centre  of  a  board,  and  fasten  it  to  a  nail 
at  each  end.  Next  proceed  to  nail  the  nose  and 
tail  of  your  snake  to  the  plank,  stretching  the  skin 
as  much  as  possible,  and  being  careful  to  see  that 
both  nose  and  tail  are  beneath  the  string.  Stretch 
the  skin  laterally,  and  fix  it  with  tacks,  or  old 
gramaphone  needles  (preferably  the  latter),  placed 
at  intervals  along  each  side.  The  intervals  between 
the  tacks  should  be  approximately  ^^nd  of  the  entire 
length  of  the  skin.  The  head  should  be  fixed  with 
tacks  and  pins  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  dry 
in  its  original  shape  ;  and,  in  the  case  of  poisonous 
snakes,  the  fangs  should  be  kept  in  an  upright 
position,  by  means  of  tacks  placed  on  each  side  of 
the  head  (near  the  fangs),  and  a  pin  placed  across 
them  and  resting  against   the  fangs.     Preserving 


44 

mixtures,  such  as  corrosive  sublimate,  may  be  put 
on  the  skin,  but  are  not  necessary. 
Drying.  Drying  may  be  done  in  the  sun,  though  hot 

ashes  are  preferable,  especially  for  drying  up  the 
head  cavities. 

When  dry  the  skin  should  be  trimmed  with 
scissors  (the  nearer  the  tacks  have  been  placed 
together  the  less  skin  will  have  to  be  removed  in 
trimming),  and  pressed  between  planks,  to  counter- 
act a  tendency  to  curl.  If  desirable  the  skins  may 
be  mounted  on  red  flannel. 

The  thin  skins  of  certain  Tree-snakes  often 
lose  their  colour  and  become  transparent  when 
removed  from  the  body.  These  should  be  gummed 
on  to  paper  or  cardboard  of  the  same  colour  as  the 
skins  originally  were. 

A  skin  prepared  as  already  described  should 
make  a  fine  trophy  and  curiosity,  showing,  as  it 
will,  all  points  necessary  for  the  identification  of  a 
specimen :  headshields  and  shape  of  head,  dentition, 
ventrals,  sub-caudals,  and  shape  of  tail. 

Many  taxidermists  cut  off  the  ventrals  when 
trimming  a  skin,  but  I  consider  that  this  spoils  the 
specimen,  as  far  as  scientific  interest  is  concerned. 
A  well-taken  and  well-stretched  skin  (plenty  of  pins 
being  used)  requires  very  little  trimming,  but 
although  good  skinning  is  easy  enough,  with  a  little 
practice,  it  requires  some  little  experience  before 
one  can  stretch  a  skin  in  such  a  manner  as  to  do 
full  justice  to  its  elastic  possibilities,  and  at  the 
same  time  get  it  even  and  uniform,  with  a  minimum 
of  sagging  between  the  tacks. 


45 


Chapter   VII. 

SOME    RECORDS   OF  SNAKE    HUNTING. 

One  of  the  finest  places  in  Ceylon  for  snake 
catchino:,  both  on  account  of  its  accessibility  and  f^^  Anurad- 

1  ^  •       1       r  r        f  T        hapura 

the  geographical  features  of  the  surrounding  country, 
country,  is  Anuradhapura.  This  is  the  only  place 
situated  in  the  midst  of  the  large  Northern  forests 
where  there  is  an  hotel,  and  one  does  not  have  to 
depend  upon  Resthouses,  which  latter  are  un- 
suitable if  a  long  stay  of  three  weeks  or  a  month 
is  intended. 

It  is  true  that  the  rapid  progress  of  civilisation 
has  driven  away  much  of  the  game  from  the  nearer 
forests,  but  it  has  not,  to  any  appreciable  extent, 
diminished  the  vast  number  of  snakes  to  be  found 
in  that  district,  and  even  in  Anuradhapura  itself. 
In  fact,  snakes  are  rather  partial  to  human  habit- 
ations. Houses  mean  food,  and  food  means  rats 
and  mice,  which  are  dainties  much  sought  after  by 
snakes  ;  in  addition  to  this,  there  are  the  numerous 
"  Tanks,"  jungle  ponds,  paddy  fields,  and  artificial 
waterways,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  crumbling 
ruins,  creeper-covered,  and  a  mass  of  crannies  and 
holes.  All  these  features  combined  make  the 
Anuradhapura  district  one  of  the  "  snakeyest "  in 
the  Island. 

During  the  three  weeks  that  I  spent  there, 
snake  catching,  in  December  'eg,  I  obtained  the 
following  specimens,  in  addition  to  many  which  I 
saw  and  did  not  catch,  and  many  which  I  caught 
but  did  not  kill  and  skin : — 

5  Ancistrodon  Hypnale, 

7  Zamenis  Mucosus, 

I  Dendrophis  Pictus, 


46 

I  Hydrophobus  Nympha, 
4  Lycodon  Aulicus, 
I  Tropidonotus  Stolatus, 
I  Dryophis  Mycterizans, 
I  Oligodon  Sublineatus, 
I  Tropidonotus  Quincunciatus. 
Although   I   stopped  three  months  at  Anuradha- 
pura,  all  these  snakes  (22)  were  caught  within  two 
weeks,  an  unusual  run  of  luck. 

The  Ancistrodon  Hypnale  seemed  to  be  very 
numerous  round  Anuradhapura,  and  also  at  Min- 
neriya,  but  during  two  years  of  snake  hunting  in 
the  Central  Province  I  only  succeeded  in  obtaining 
two  specimens.  All  the  specimens  I  obtained  of 
this  snake  were  caught  in  a  patch  of  jungle  that 
was  being  cleared,  and  they  seemed  to  live  chiefly 
among  tree  stumps  and  in  rotten  wood,  which  fact 
is  also  borne  out  by  their  colouration.  A  sixth 
iVncistrodon  was  killed  by  coolies,  but  was  chopped 
to  pieces.  All  the  Lycodons  I  obtained  (four  in 
number)  were  found  in  the  mud  wall  of  a  hut 
which  I  broke  down.  I  also  found  a  fifth  one,  but 
let  it  go  on  account  of  its  small  size.  The  owner 
of  the  house  was  so  alarmed  at  the  number  of 
snakes  caught,  that  he  insisted  on  also  breaking 
down  the  wall  of  another  house  that  he  was  living 
in,  in  order  that  I  could  kill  any  snakes  that  might 
be  found  there.  The  man's  fear  is  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  the  Sinhalese  mistake  the  Lycodon 
for  the  deadly  Bungarus  Ceylonicus  ;  they  call  it 
Mapila  (or  sometimes  Karrawila),  and  believe  that 
it  kills  men  by  sucking  their  blood  away. 
Large  Two   of   the    Rat-snakcs  (Zamenis  Mucosus) 

Rat-snakes.  ^yj^j^N]-^    J    obtained  were  of   extremely   large    size. 

One  was  gft.  6fin.,  and  the  other  gft.  3J  in.  Out 
of  the  many  Rat-snakes  I  had  killed  previously  at 
different  times,  only  one  had  exceeded  gft.  (a 
specimen  gft.  4in.,  killed  in  the  Knuckles  district). 


47 

One  or  two  others  measured  about  Sft.  3in.  or 
8ft.  6in.,  about  seven  or  eight  were  over  yjft.  in 
length,  and  the  average  length  of  the  remainder 
(about  forty  or  fifty)  was  about  6jft. 

The  Hydrophobus  Nympha  was  the  first 
specimen  I  had  obtained  of  that  variety,  and  was 
killed  in  the  bath  ! 

Dryophis  Mycterizans  and  Tropidonotus  Quin- 
cunciatus  were  very  common,  but  having  many 
specimens  of  these,  I  did  not  trouble  to  kill  any. 

At  Anuradhapura  a  very  fine  Dipsas  Forstenii 
(the  red  variety)  was  shot,  and  measured  6ft.  8|in. 
I  now  have  the  skin  in  my  collection,  the  gentle- 
man who  shot  it  having  kindly  given  it  to  me. 

Pythons  are  numerous  in  the  Anuradhapura 
district,  but  it  is  necessary  to  go  at  least  two  miles 
outside  the  town  before  likely  country  is  met  with. 
The  far  end  of  the  Tissawewa  is  a  good  place,  as 
are  the  jungles  round  the  Balankulam,  but  the 
latter,  though  pythons  are  numerous  in  them,  are 
rather  too  thick  to  facilitate  snake  hunting. 

I    found    Kurunegala  to  be,    during   the    dry  The  snakes 
season,  an  almost  better  place  for  snake  hunting  Kumnegaia 
than  Anuradhapura,  as,  in  the  evening,  owing  to  District. 
the  draught,  the  snakes  were  obliged  to  leave  the 
jungles  and  enter  the  paddy  fields,  in  search  of  any 
water  that  had  not  dried   up   since  the  previous 
flooding. 

In  one  paddy  field  alone,  in  the  course  of  a 
month,  I  caught  over  forty  specimens  of  Tropi- 
donotus Stolatus,  though  needless  to  say  I  did  not 
keep  them  all.  There  were  also  many  colonies  of 
T.  Plumbicolor,  though  I  have  found  this  snake  to 
be  somewhat  uncommon  in  other  parts  of  Ceylon. 
Three  specimens  of  Z.  Mucosus  which  I 
obtained  measured  gft.  6in.,  gft.  Sfin.,  and  loft., 
while  a  snake  charmer  brought  me  a  Dipsas 
Barnesii,  about  4Jft.  long. 


48 


Breeding 
Seasons. 


The   varieties   found    during   the    months    of 
March  and  April  were  as  follows : — 
Dendrophis  Pictus,        Tropidonotus  Submineatus, 
Lycodon  Aulicus,  „  Plumbicolor, 

Vipera  Russellii,  ,,  Stolatus, 

Naia  Tripudians,  ,,  Asperrimus, 

Oligodon  Subgrisens,    Zamenis  Mucosus, 

,,         Ellioti,  Ancistrodon  Hypnale, 

Dryophis  Mycterizans. 

Many  of  the  female  specimens  of  Z.  Mucosus, 
N.  Tripudians,  L.  Aulicus,  A.  Hypnale,  T. 
Stolatus,  and  T.  Plumbicolor,  had  eggs  in  them, 
and  their  breeding  season  seems  to  have  been 
during  May  and  the  beginning  of  June. 

I  append  a  list,  giving  the  average  dimensions 
to  which  the  common  snakes  of  Ceylon  grow. 


Snake. 


Average  Adult  Size. 


Average        Naia  Tripudians  (Cobra) 

Dimensions 
of  Ceylon 
Snakes. 


Vipera  Russellii  (Brown 
tic-polonga) 

Trimeresurus  Trigonoce- 
phalus  (Green  polcnga) 

Lycodon  Aulicus   

Zamenis  Mucosus  (Rat- 
snake)  .... 


••••  cat*  •••< 


Coluber  Helena     .... 
Bungarus  Ceylonicus 
Ancistrodon  Hypnale 


5ft.  2ins.  (Cobras  have 
been  known  to  grow  to 
6ft.  6ins.,  but  anything 
over  5ft.  2ins.  may  be 
considered  large.) 

4ft.  6ins. 

2ft.  4ins. 
igins. 

6Jft.  is  the  average 
length  of  an  adult,  but 
it  varies  considerably, 
and  many  grow  larger. 
Between  4ft.  and  5ft. 
2ft.  Sins, 
ift.  3ins. 


49 


Snake. 
Dryophis  Mycterizans 


•••• 


Dryophis  Pulverulentus 
Tropidonatus     Quincun- 

^^X  ^X  L.  L^  O        ••••  ••••  ••••  •••• 

Tropidonotus  Stolatus  .... 

Dendrophis  Pictus 

Dipsas  Ceylonensis 
Dipsas  Forstenii    

Helicops  Schistosus 
Python  Molurus     


Average  Adult  Size. 

About    4ft.    Sins,     (up 
country  variety). 
SJft.  to  6ft.  (low  coun- 
try variety). 
Sift. 

3ft.  6ins. 

2ft. 

4ft. 

3ft.  iiins. 

5ft.   (many  grow  much 
larger). 
2ft.  6ins. 

The  average  adult  size 
seldom  exceeds  12  ft., 
though  occasional  spe- 
cimens grow  much 
larger.  The  appearance 
of  snakes  is  very  de- 
ceptive, and  though 
people  report  that  they 
have  seen  a  Python 
20  ft.  long,  it  may,  in 
reality,  be  only  about 
12  ft.  in  length. 
Polyodontophis  Subpunc- 

LcLLUo  •.••  •.<•  •••.  ....  i~  J      illoa 

Chrysopelea  Ornata       ....     3  ft.  10  ins. 
Oligodon  Sublineatus    ....     10  ins. 

After  reaching  its  full  length  a  snake  thickens 
as  it  grows  older. 

Trimeresurus  Trigonocephalus  is  a  somewhat 
difficult  snake  to  obtain  except  in  certain  localities, 
as  it  is  essentially  nocturnal  in  its  habits.  I 
obtained  a  good  many  specimens  at  Matale,  the 
coolies   catching   about   ten   or    twelve   of    them 


50 

within  three  months,  but  have  found  it  considerably 

harder  to  obtain  any  in  other  parts  of  the  Island. 

One  specimen,  which  I  kept  for  nearly  two  years, 

became  very  tame,  and  grew  to  a  length  of  three 

feet.     It  died  eventually  from  old  age.     A  skin  of 

a   Trimeresurus   I    killed   near   Matale   measured 

4  ft.  4  ins.  when  stretched.     A  large  number  of 

varieties  are  to  be  obtained  in  the  Matale  district, 

and  during   a   stay   of  a  year  there   I   killed  the 

following  varieties: — PolyodontophisSubpunctatus, 

Aspidura     Trachyprocta,    Oligodon    Subli^eatus, 

Lycodon    Aulicus,    Zamenis    Mucosus,    Coluber 

Helena,  Dendrophis  Pictus,  Tropidonotus  Stolatus, 

Tropidonotus  Quincunciatus  (known  in  Ceylon  as 

T.  Asperrimus),  Helicops  Schistosus,  Dipsas  Cey- 

lonensis,  Dipsas  Forstenii,  Dryophis  Mycterizans, 

DryophisPulverulentus,  Naia  Tripudians,  Callophis 

Trimaculatus,  Vipera  Russellii,  Ancistrodon  Hyp- 

nale,     Trimeresurus     Trigonocephalus.      I    found 

a   family   of   nine    "Coluber     Helenas"     in    one 

antheap 

Although  I  made  several  attempts  to  obtain 
specimens  of  Bungarus  Ceylonicus  in  that  district 
I  was  unable  to  obtain  any. 

I  append  a  list  of  the  Tamil  and  Sinhalese 
names  of  some  common  snakes,  which  may  be  of 
some  use  to  those  desirous  of  obtaining  specimens 
in  Ceylon. 

I  had  much  difficulty  in  making  the  list  at  all 
accurate,  as  the  native  nomenclature  of  snakes  is 
both  incomplete  and  inaccurate,  there  being  no 
scientific  study  of  reptiles  among  either  the  Tamils 
or  the  Sinhalese.  What  one  man  will  call  a 
''Mapila"  another  will  call  a  "  Karawila,"  and 
vice  versa  ;  while  separate  species  that  resemble 
each  other  in  colour  are  given  the  same  name.  A 
native  dislikes  confessing  to  ignorance,  and  if 
shown  any  snake  will  give  it  a  name,  even  if  it  is 


51 

the  wrong  one,  while  the  Tamils  often  borrow  the 
Sinhalese  names,  and  for  numerous  unnamed 
varieties  use  the  word  ''Vyrian"  (viper),  which 
corresponds  to  the  Sinhalese  ''  polonga."  All  this 
combines  to  make  the  discovery  of  the  correct 
names  of  snakes  a  difficult  business.  The  other 
species  of  the  genera  mentioned  below  are  given 
the  same  names. 


Name. 

Python  Molurus 

Lycodon  Aulicus 

Zaraenis  Mucosus     . . 
Coluber  Helena 
Dendrophis  Pictus    . . 

Tropidonotus  Stolatus 

,,  Piscator 

Ancistrodon    Hypnale 

Dipsas  Ceylonensis  . . 
Chrysopelea  Ornata. . 

Dryophis  Mycterizans 

Bungarus    Ceylonicus 
Naia  Tripudians 

Vipera  Russelli 


Trimeresurus  Trigono- 
cephalus 

Uropeltidae 
Earth-snakes      and 
smaller    Colubrinae 


Tamil  Name. 

Malam  Pambu 
Malei  Virian 
Venanati 

Kundan  Karawila 

Sarei  Pambu 

Kumbera  Muke  (some- 
times)         

Kopi  Pambu  (Coffee 
Snake)      

Tanni  Pambu  (Water- 
snake)       

Nettu  Verusa 


Kopi  Virian. 


Patchi   Pambu  (Green 

snake) 
Kumbera  Muke  (Horned 

nose) 

Kundan  Karawila 


Nulla    Pambu 

snake)    . . 
Kanadi   Virian 

tacle  Viper) 
Podeyen 
Virian  Pambu 

Patchi   Virian 

Viper) 
Kopi     Virian 

Viper) 


(good 
(Spec- 

(Green 
(Coffee 


Sinhalese  Name, 


Pimbura 

JTel  Karawila 
(Mapila 

Girendiya 

Muda  Karawila 

Haldunda 
Aharakuka 

Diya  Polonga 
I  Mahakamaduwa 
( Kunukatuwa 
(Dunu  Karawila 
( Mapila 

Pol-Mai  Karawila 

Ahatula 

Dunnu  Karawila 

Tel-Karawila 

Nagya 


Tic  Polonga  (Spotted 
Polonga) 


Munelei  Pambu  (Sand- 
snakes) 


Palla  Polonga 


Depat     Naya     (Two- 
headed  snakes) 


52 


Chapter   VIII. 

PROTECTIVE    COLOURATION. 

Among  Serpents,  Protective  and  Aggressive 
colouration  is  especially  noticeable.  The  following 
snakes  afford  the  best  examples  of  advantageous 
colouration  : — 

Dryophis  Mycterizans. 

Dryophis  Pulverulentus. 

The  Lycodons. 

Python  Molurus. 

Vipera  Rusellii. 

Trimeresurus  Trigonocephalus. 
In  many  cases  colouration  may  be  both 
aggressive  and  protective.  For  example,  the  green 
skin  of  the  Dryophis  Mycterizans  enables  it  to 
harmonize  with  the  green  leaves  of  the  trees,  and 
become  almost  invisible  both  to  the  lizards  and 
young  birds  it  preys  on,  and  also  to  snake-eating 
birds  and  other  enemies. 

The  Dryophis  Pulverulentus,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  a  nocturnal  snake,  and  resembles  the  D, 
Mycterizans  in  everything  but  its  colour,  which  is 
dark  brown.  Being  nocturnal  in  habit,  a  green 
skin  would  naturally  be  useless  to  this  snake  when 
hunting,  and  as  it  lives  in  the  brown  thatched 
roofs  of  houses  it  would  be  equally  useless  to  it 
when  asleep  in  the  daytime. 
Protective  Another  striking  example  of  protective  imi- 

Cok)uration  tation  is  the  way  in  which  the  little  Lycodon 
Auiicus.  Aulicus  imitates  the  deadly  Bungarus  Ceylonicus 
(Krait).  Except  for  the  different  shapes  of  their 
heads,  the  two  at  first-sight  are  practically  indis- 
tinguishable. Examination  shows,  however,  that 
the  B.  Ceylonicus  has  enlarged  hexagonal  vertebral 


53 

scales,  while  the  scales  along  the  back  of  vertebrae 
of  the  Lycodons  are  of  normal  size,  and  although 
both  snakes  are  black,  with  white  bands,  the  band- 
ing is  apparent  on  the  ventrals  of  the  Bungarus, 
and  absent  on  the  belly  of  the  Lycodon.  To  make 
the  deception  more  complete,  the  Lycodon  has 
enlarged  front  teeth,  in  imitation  of  the  fangs  of 
the  Bungarus  Ceylonicus,  though  the  former  is 
quite  harmless.  (The  Hydrophobus  Nympha  also 
imitates  the  latter  snake.) 

These  enlarged  solid  teeth  go  to  prove  that  the 
colouration  is  in  this  case  protective ;  a  protection 
against  mankind,  who,  taking  the  snake  to  be  a 
poisonous  Krait,  give  it  a  wide  berth.  It  is  also,  no 
doubt,  safe  from  snake-eating  birds,  who  leave  the 
Bungarus  alone,  either  because  it  is  unpalatable, 
or  in  fear  of  its  bite. 

The  Python   Molurus,  on  the  other  hand,  is  The 
aggressively  coloured.     If  it  was  of  uniform  colour  Coiouraiion 
its  immense  body  would  be  at  once  noticeable,  but  Moiurus. 
its  skin  being  yellow  and  black,  it  harmonises  with 
the  "  shadow  and  sun  "  effect,  so  noticeable  in  the 
jungle.    This  harmonising  yellow  and  black  colour- 
ation is  noticeable  also  in  the  skins  of  the  tiger  and 
leopard.     It  is  somewhat  peculiar  that  the  python 
should  be  thus  coloured,  as  it  is  a  nocturnal  snake, 
which  ambushes  its  prey  at  dusk,  when,  even  if  it 
was    of    a   bright    uniform    colour,    it   would    be 
invisible. 

At  the  same  time  the  python  would  hardly 
require  its  coloured  skin  as  a  protection  whilst 
lying  asleep  in  the  jungle,  as  its  sole  enemy  is  man, 
and  the  danger  it  is  exposed  to  is  very  slight 
indeed.  When  young  it  is  liable  to  attack  by  the 
mongoose,  but  when  it  is  so  small  as  to  be  able  to 
be  killed  by  the  latter,  a  variegated  pattern  on  its 
skin  is  unnecessary,  as  its  body  would  not  be  large 
enough  to  attract  attention,  if  of  a  uniform  colour. 


54 


Distribution 
of  Coloura- 
tion. 


Protective 
Habits. 


This  colouration  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that 
the  python  does  not  confine  its  hunting  to  dusk, 
but  often  ambushes  its  prey  before  the  sun  has  set, 
seizing  and  catching  in  its  coils  any  deer  or  other 
small  game  that  may  come  down  to  the  water  to 
drink  in  the  evening. 

The  Viper  Russellii  is  darkly  coloured  as  a 
protection.  Being  nocturnal,  its  colouration  would 
be  useless  while  hunting. 

When  lying  asleep  amongst  the  dead  leaves, 
its  brown  skin,  covered  with  blackish  leaf-shaped 
markings,  renders  it  almost  invisible. 

The  Trimeresurus  Trigonocephalus,  a  noc- 
turnal snake,  found  on  bushes  and  trees,  is 
coloured  green  with  black  blotches,  which  break 
up  what  would  otherwise  be  too  large  a  stretch  of 
uniform  colouration. 

It  can,  in  most  cases,  be  taken  as  a  rule  that 
nocturnal  snakes  are  protectively  coloured,  and 
other  snakes  both  protectively  and  aggressively 
coloured.  Snakes  that  are  unpalatable  to  birds  and 
animals  that  prey  on  reptiles  give  warning,  and 
save  their  own  lives,  by  the  colour  of  their  skin. 

Other  serpents,  that  are  not  in  any  way 
benefited  by  the  pattern  of  their  skin,  often  have 
some  other  physical  advantages  to  make  up  for  it. 

Take  for  example  the  Rat-snake  (Zamenis 
Mucosus),  the  Cobra  (Naia  Tripudians),  the 
Dendrophmae,  and  the  Tropidonoti.  The  Rat- 
snake  and  the  Dendrophinae  have  speed,  the  Cobra 
its  threatening  hood,  and  the  Tropidonoti  their 
ability  to  flatten  their  bodies  in  such  a  way  as  to 
resemble  vipers,  thereby  protecting  themselves 
from  attack. 

Tropidonotus  Stolatus  will  sit  up  and  expand 
its  neck  in  much  the  same  manner  as  the  Cobra, 
and  many  of  the  tree-snakes,  such  as  the  Dipsa- 
dinae  and  the  Trimeresuri,  vibrate  their  tales- 
rapidly  when  disturbed. 


55. 


Chapter  IX. 

SNAKES   IN   CAPTIVITY. 

Those  who  are  desirous  of  keeping  a  serpent- 
arium  of  live  snakes  should  study  as  much  as 
possible  the  conditions  under  which  the  various 
snakes  live  when  in  their  wild  state. 

The  boxes  they  are  kept  in  should  be  roomy,  The  Cages, 
and  with  sand  or  pebble-covered  floors,  in  which 
small  holes  have  been  bored,  to  permit  of  drainage. 
The  sides  should  be  of  glass,  though  in  the  case  of 
large  snakes  wire  netting  may  be  used.  The  roof 
should  be  made  of  perforated  zinc  when  the  boxes 
have  glass  sides.  The  bottom  of  the  cage-door 
ought  to  be  on  a  level  with  the  floor  of  the  cage, 
as  it  will  considerably  facilitate  the  cleaning  of  the 
latter.  A  pan  containing  water  is  necessary,  and 
should  be  fastened  rather  high  up,  as  if  it  is  on  the 
floor  of  the  cage  the  snake  is  likely  to  spill  it,  turn 
his  sand  into  mud,  and  by  crawling  up  the  inside 
of  the  glass  make  the  latter  dim  and  dirty,  the 
cleaning  of  which,  without  getting  bitten,  is  a 
difficult  process.  If  the  vessel  containing  the  water 
is  arranged  so  that  it  can  be  raised  or  lowered  by 
strings  passing  through  the  roof  of  the  cage,  it  will 
make  the  renewal  of  water  considerably  easier. 

Rocks  should  be  placed  in  all  the  boxes,  to 
assist  in  the  removal  of  the  skin,  when  skin- 
shedding  time  approaches  (often  as  frequently  as 
once  a  month),  and  when  tree-snakes  are  kept, 
shrubs  are  necessary. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  three  things 
that  snakes  prmcipally  require  are 

(i)  Air,  (2)  Warmth,  (3)  Water, 


5^ 

and  if  the  cases  can  be  kept  out  of  doors,  but  shel- 
tered from  the  rain,  so  much  the  better. 

Although  fond  of  warmth,  snakes  do  not  care 
for  the  full  glare  from  a  hot  sun,  and  a  portion  of 
their  cages  must  be  shaded,  so  that  they  can 
protect  their  eyes,  which  are  lidless. 

Water  is  necessary,  for,  though  a  snake  eats 
seldom,  it  drinks  deeply,  and  takes  to  the  water 
often  in  the  hot  weather. 

Skin-shedding  occurs  about  once  a  month,  or 

every  six  weeks  (according  to  the  amount  of  rubbing 

that    the    epidermis    receives).      The   process   is 

interesting. 

Skin  About  two  wccks  before  shedding  its  skin  the 

Shedding,      ^y^^  q£  ^^le  suakc  become  dull   and  opaque,   the 

serpent  being  almost  blind.  It  remains  quiet  in 
the  corner  of  its  cage,  and  refuses  food.  The  skin 
now  loosens  on  the  tail,  and  afterwards  about  the 
jaws  and  head,  finally  coming  off  inside  out  and 
rolled  up  in  a  ring,  complete  even  to  the  thin 
transparent  substance  that  covers  the  eye.  The 
loosening  of  the  epidermis  is  due  to  the  formation 
of  minute  hair  on  the  skin  underneath. 

After  skin-shedding  it  is  advisable  to  bathe 
the  snake,  or  spray  it  with  water,  as  the  new  skin  is 
slightly  sticky.  The  shed  skin  should  be  removed 
from  the  case,  as,  should  it  get  damp,  insects  and 
tics  will  appear. 

The   tics  bite    through    the    epidermis,   and 

fastening  on  the  skin  below,  make  it  very  difficult 

for  the  snake  to  cast  its  skin  when  the  time  comes 

for  it  to  do   so.     A  snake  thus  afflicted  should  be 

on  Snakes,     rubbcd  with  cocoauut  oil  and  placed  in  the  sun. 

If  the  snakes  are  kept  indoors  the  trouble  from 
tics  will  be  obviated.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
advisable  to  place  the  cages  for  a  short  time  in  the 
sun,  after  a  long  spell  of  wet  weather,  in  order  that 
the  reptiles  may  renew  their  supply  of  electricity 


57 

(vitality)  from  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

It  is  noticeable,  also,  that  snakes  kept  in  cool 
climates,  with  their  room  warmed  artificially,  never 
show  the  same  amount  of  vitality  and  energy  as 
those  kept  in  the  natural  warmth  of  an  Eastern 
climate. 

When  snakes  are  first  caught  they  will  pro- when  snakes 
bably  refuse  to  eat  for  a  long  time,  owing  to  fear,  p^^^®  *^^'^ 
This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  after  a  large 
meal,  or  when   swallowing  anything,   a    snake    is 
necessarily  handicapped  if  subject  to  attack. 

When  feeding,  a  snake  usually  swallows  its  How  a  Snake 
prey  head-first,  so  that  the  fur  or  feathers  may  not  ^^^^* 
catch  in  its  throat. 

Having  seized  it,  it  proceeds  to  push  it  down 
its  throat  with  its  teeth,  by  moving  forward  first 
on  one  side  of  the  jaw  and  then  the  other.  The 
snake's  teeth  curved  backwards  towards  the 
throat,  prevent  the  prey  from  escaping.  The 
muscles  of  the  throat  also  grip  the  animal  and 
help  m  the  crushing  process. 

While  the  food  is  in  the  snake's  mouth  the  Protrution  of 
latter   protrudes   the    end    of    its   windpipe    to    a  when^^^^ 
distance  of  about  twice  or  three  times  the  pipe's  swallowing. 
own  width,  beyond  the  lower  lip,  where,  opening 
and  closing,  it  takes  in  air,  and  saves  the  snake 
from  suffocation. 

During  the  process  of  swallowing  the  snake 
curves  its  body  about  to  assist  the  muscles  in  their 
work  of  forcing  down  the  food. 

This  process  completed,  the  snake  remains 
still  and  yawns  prodigiously  at  intervals,  a  process 
which  probably  helps  to  exude  the  salivary  fluids, 
which  assist  the  digestion.  After  moving  about 
for  a  short  time  (probably  an  additional  aid  to  the 
digestive  fluids)  the  snake  goes  to  sleep. 

If  frightened,  after  having  a  meal,  a  timid 
snake  will  sometimes  eject  its  food. 


58 

Newly-  A  newly-caught  snake  will  often  injure  its  nose 

Snakes.  ^y  Striking  at  you,  and  banging  the  latter  against 
the  side  of  its  cage.  This  is  not  a  serious  matter, 
but  should  the  wound  become  bad,  Condy's  fluid 
may  be  added  to  the  drinking  water.  Condy's 
fluid  is  preferable  to  carbolic  acid,  as  the  latter  is 
poisonous  if  taken  internally  in  any  quantity. 

Small  snakes  should  not  be  placed  in  the 
same  cage  with  large  ones,  as  the  latter  sometimes 
show  a  tendency  to  cannibalism.  Snakes  of  the 
same  kind  may  be  kept  together,  if  they  are  about 
the  same  size,  and  pythons  may  always  be  kept 
together,  as  they  only  eat  mammals  and  birds,  but 
care  should  be  taken  at  feeding  time  to  see  that 
they  do  not  both  seize  the  same  rat,  and  accidently 
swallow  each  other,  as  is  described  further  on  in 
this  chapter. 
Nervous  Ncrvous  snakes  should  be  kept  separate,   as 

Snakes.  when  a  snake  becomes  frightened  in  any  way 
it  will  often,  in  panic,  strike  at  the  nearest  moving 
object.  Two  nervous  snakes  may  thus  attack 
each  other,  through  no  feeling  of  enmity,  but 
through  fear  occasioned  by  the  sight  of  a  human 
being,  and  a  desire  to  strike  wildly  and  blindly  at 
whatever  is  nearest  them. 

It  is  advisable  to  keep  wild  and  tame  snakes- 
together  as  long  as  a  few  of  them  are  quiet,  any 
others  that  have  been  newly  caught  will  soon 
become  tame. 

The  best  way  of  lifting  untamed  snakes  is  by 
holding  the  tail  and  supporting  the  body  across  a 
stick. 
Keeping  Although  few  people  are  aware  of   the    fact, 

y^  °^^'  young  pythons  make  very  good  pets.  Those 
unacquainted  with  snakes  are  apt  to  attribute  to  a 
young  python  of  some  six  or  seven  feet  long  all  the 
terrifying  characteristics  of  a  ''  Giant  Anaconda," 
some  thirty-five  or  thirty-six  feet  in  length.     Some 


59 

people  are  even  under  the  impression  that  a  python 
will  deliberately  pursue,  catch  and  make  a  meal  of 
you.  Pythons  are  easy  to  tame  if  caught  young, 
and  when  they  are  properly  tamed,  and  have  lost 
their  fear  of  you,  will  put  up  with  almost  any 
treatment  and  handling  without  hissing  or  striking. 
These  snakes  are  very  hardy,  and  require  little 
attention.  I  have  been  keepmg  pythons  for  over 
two  years,  and  for  the  last  year  have  had  as  many 
as  thirteen,  and  out  of  all  these  only  one  has  died 
— a  very  old  snake,  that  had  been  very  much  cut 
about  by  coolies,  who  saw  it  in  the  jungle  which 
they  were  cutting  down. 

The   amount    of    food    consumed    by    these  Feeding 
snakes  varies  a  great  deal  with  individuals  ;  some   ^ 
eat    once    a   month,    some    once   in    two    months, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  snake,  the  size  of  the 
previous  meal,  the  temperature,  and  the  period. 

Their  food  may  be  composed  of  chickens  or 
small  mammals,  especially  rats,  which  seem  to  be 
the  favourite  food  of  snakes  of  all  kinds.  Except 
for  feeding  and  giving  them  water,  the  pythons 
require  little  or  no  attention.  They  are  fond  of 
water,  and  will  often  lie  in  it,  though  their  habits 
are  not  so  aquatic  as  those  of  the  "  Boas." 

Both  "  Boas"  and  Pythons  kill  their  prey  by 
constriction.  Seizing  the  animal  by  the  neck,  the 
snake  turns  it  over  and,  turning  a  sort  of  somer- 
sault, rolls  its  coils  round  it.  After  the  animal  is 
dead,  the  python  salivers  over  it  with  its  tongue  in 
order  to  digest  it  easily,  and  bringing  its  coils  over, 
crushes  it  again  as  it  swallows. 

A  python's  mouth  is  more  expansive  than  that 
of  any  other  snake,  and  it  is  possible  for  a  young 
python  four  feet  in  length,  and,  with  a  normal 
circumference  of  five  inches,  to  swallow  a  chicken 
with  a  circumference  of  ten  inches. 


6o 

The  sense  of  The  eyesight  of  the  python  is  extremely  bad 

s^eH  ^"  i^  the  daytime,  and,  Hke  other  nocturnal  snakes,  it 
possessed  by  finds  its  prey  (if  fed  during  the  day)  by  its  sense  of 
smell,  and  by  touching  with  its  tongue  the  ground 
over  which  its  food  has  passed.  So  greatly  is  a 
snake  dependent  upon  its  sense  of  touch,  that  if 
anyone  sees  a  snake  stalking  its  prey  in  the  jungle 
they  will  notice  that  the  serpent  will  not  go  straight 
for  the  frog  or  rat,  but  will  follow  the  track  along 
which  the  latter  has  passed,  touching  the  ground 
every  now  and  then  with  its  flickering  tongue, 
which  transfers  to  the  nostrils  the  smell  of  the  rat. 
Therefore,  when  feeding  even  a  tame  python,  great 
care  has  to  be  exercised  lest  the  snake  should  seize 
your  hand  in  mistake  for  a  rat,  especially  if  your 
hand  has  just  been  in  contact  with  the  latter. 

When  a  snake  has  once  seized  anything  in  its 
mouth  the  action  of  swallowing  is  almost  purely 
mechanical,  and  the  serpent  is  scarcely  aware  of 
what  it  is  swallowing,  its  palate  being  almost 
devoid  of  any  sense  of  taste  or  feeling. 

A  curious  incident  occurred  when  I  was  feeding 
one  of  my  pythons,  which  bears  out  this  theory. 

I  had  flung  a  dead  rat  into  the  cage,  and  was 

moving   it   about   with    a   bamboo  stick,  which   I 

afterwards   placed   near   the    snake's   head.     The 

latter  saw  something  dimly  moving  and  smelt  the 

rat,  so  it  straightway  seized  and  coiled  round  the 

bamboo,  which  it  eventually  proceeded  to  swallow. 

After  it  had  got  about  two  feet  of  the  stick  down 

its  throat  it  discovered  its  mistake  and  disgorged  it. 

When  looking  over  a  copy  of  Country  Side  I 

came  across  the  photograph  of  a  rug  that  had  been 

accidentally  swallowed  by  a  python  and  disgorged. 

The  rug  was  rolled  up,   with  the  fur  inside,  and 

Accidental      comprcssed  into  the  shape  of  a  sausage. 

Cannibalism  Several  years  ago,  in  the  Zoological  Gardens 

aVJthon.^^  °^  in  London,  a  python  accidentally  swallowed  another 


6i 

python  nearly  as  large  as  itself.  I  say  ''  acciden- 
tally," as  pythons  are  not  given  to  cannibalism. 
The  keeper  placed  two  pigeons  in  the  snakes'  cage, 
and  both  pythons  seized  the  same  pigeon  and 
started  swallowing.  The  smaller  of  the  two 
pythons  refused  to  let  go  his  hold  on  the  bird,  so 
his  head  was  swallowed  by  the  other  snake.  Still 
feeling  something  in  his  mouth,  the  larger  reptile 
continued  to  swallow,  and  the  keeper  entering  the 
Reptile  House  shortly  afterwards  found  only  one 
python,  and  that  one  very  much  distended.  The 
meal  was  digested  within  a  month. 

In  handling  the  python  care  must  be  taken  to  Handling  the 
see  that  after  seizing  the  reptile  behind  the  head  it  ^y^^°"- 
does  not  get  its  coils  round  its  own  neck  and 
underneath  your  hand,  as  by  doing  so  it  can  exert 
sufficient  leverage,  by  an  upward  pressure,  to  draw 
its  head  down  into  the  centre  of  its  coils.  If  it 
should  do  this,  and  you  do  not  leave  go,  you  may 
(if  the  snake  is  a  large  one)  get  your  hand  crushed 
or  otherwise  injured,  as  by  using  its  coils  as  a 
fulcrum,  and  your  arm  as  a  lever,  it  can  exert  a 
tremendous  pull. 

This  trick  of  leverage  is  well  known  to  the 
snake,  and  it  will  often  attempt  it  when  held  by 
the  neck. 

Should  a  python  wind  round  you,  never 
attempt  to  pull  its  coils  apart,  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible (even  with  a  young  one).  The  snake  should 
be  unwound  by  the  tail,  which  is  quite  an  easy 
matter  as  far  as  strength  is  concerned.  A  python's 
strength  lies  in  an  ingenious  way  of  applying  its 
coils,  and  although  strong  enough  to  crush  a  goat, 
can  be  managed,  to  a  certain  extent,  by  quite  a 
small  child  if  he  knows  the  secret  of  the  snake's 
strength  and  how  to  counteract  it. 

The   python   gets   its    leverage   for    applying  Catching  the 
power  from  its  tail.     To  capture  a  python   it  is  ^y^^°"- 


62 

merely  necessary  to  take  it  by  the  tail.  The  snake 
moves  slowly,  and  should  it  attempt  to  turn  on 
you,  you  should  walk  round  so  that  the  body  is 
once  more  in  a  straight  line,  and  pull  it  by  the  tail 
(of  course  it  requires  a  large  open  space  if  this 
method  of  capture  is  attempted).  By  keeping  up 
a  slight  pull,  the  snake  is  unable  to  turn,  as  in 
order  to  turn  round,  the  reptile  has  to  move  its 
ventrals  forward,  which  act  almost  like  paddles 
against  the  ground,  and  a  backward  pull  naturally 
counteracts  this. 

A  python  should  not  be  allowed  to  coil  round 
anything  from  which  it  cannot  be  easily  unwound. 
A  ten  foot  specimen  of  mine  once  escaped  and 
wound  round  a  beam  near  the  roof.  Four  men 
pulled  on  its  tail  for  twenty  minutes  without  any 
effect,  but  I  eventually  caught  it  by  a  lucky  grab 
behind  the  neck,  and  by  persistent  poking  the  men 
made  it  unwind. 

Pythons  are  among  the  few  snakes  that  ever 
breed  successfully  in  captivity,  and  this  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  they  incubate  their  eggs  by  coiling 
round  them.  Probably  this  habit  is  more  with  an 
object  of  protection  than  for  purposes  of  incubation, 
as  the  eggs  of  the  python  are  large  enough  to 
catch  the  eye  of  the  mongoose  and  other  egg-eating 
mammals  and  birds. 

The  most  suitable  snakes  for  taming  are  those 
of  sluggish  disposition,  and  are  not  of  nervous 
temperament. 

Nocturnal  snakes  are  easier  to  tame  than 
those  that  come  out  in  the  daytime. 

The  best  snakes  for  taming  purposes  are  the 
following : — 

(i)   Tropidonotus  Stolatus,    (2)   Trimeresurus 
sTnakerfor      Trigonocephalus,   (3)  Python  Molurus,  (4)  Dipsas 
Taming.         Ceyloncnsis,  and  D.  Forstenii,  (5)  Coluber  Helena, 
(6)  Dryophis  Pulverulentus,  (7)  Dendrophis  Pictus. 


The  most 
suitable 


63 

The  first  three  are  the  easiest  to  tame,  but  the 
pythons  must  be  young  ones. 

No.  7  is  a  gentle  snake,  but,  not  being 
nocturnal,  is  very  nervous. 

The  Green  Whipsnake  (D.  Mycterizans) 
seldom  does  well  in  captivity.  It  requires  a  large 
cage  with  bushes  and  shrubs  inside.  Some  speci- 
mens I  saw  at  the  Peradeniya  Gardens,  near 
Kandy,  had  bred  in  captivity,  and  were  living  on 
apparently  very  amicable  terms  with  a  Lycodon 
Aulicus,  a  Coluber  Helena,  a  Tropidonotus  Sub- 
mineatus,  and  a  Dipsas  Forstenii. 

It  is  a  common  belief  that  the  Dryophis  The  Dryophis 
Mycterizans  strikes  at  the  eye,  but  this  is  a  fallacy,  ^y^^^"^^"^- 
This  snake  is  supplied  with  a  fleshy  appendage  on 
the  end  of  the  snout,  as  owing  to  its  long  and 
slender  body,  it  often  misjudges  its  stroke  when 
striking  at  anything  and  overbalances,  in  which 
case  the  appendage  protects  its  pointed  nose  from 
injury. 

When  frightened,  this  snake  opens  its  mouth 
and  expands  its  lower  jaw  into  the  shape  of  a 
square,  the  muscle  joining  the  ends  of  the  lower 
jaws  being  capable  of  great  expansion.  I  have  not 
noticed  this  habit  in  the  up-country  (hill)  variety  of 
Dryophis  Mycterizans  or  in  the  Dryophis  Pulveru- 
lentus. 

The  Rat-snake  (Zamenis  Mucosus,  or  Ptyas 
Mucosus)  is  a  very  savage  snake  and  almost 
untameable.     It  feeds  well,  however,  in  captivity. 

Vipers  are  among  the  easiest  snakes  to  tame,  Naming 
as  they  are  of  sluggish  disposition,  semi-nocturnal, 
and  not  likely  to  strike  in  the  daytime  when  once 
they  have  got  used  to  you. 

They  may  be  tamed  either  with  their  fangs  in 
or  with  their  fangs  removed.  The  removal  is  best 
done  by  means  of  scissors,  and  the  fangs  should  be 
cut  off  high  up,  so  that  no  dangerous  pieces  are 


64 

left ;  they  cannot,  however,  be  extracted,  as  they 
are  firmly  attached  to  the  maxillary  bone. 

Wrap  your  hand  in  a  cloth  and  allow  the 
viper  to  strike  at  and  bite  you  as  often  as  it  wishes, 
but  do  not  irritate  it.  When  it  has  become  tired 
of  striking  at  you,  you  can  handle  it,  and  the 
taming  is  then  merely  a  matter  of  time.  In  about 
live  or  six  weeks  the  fangs  will  have  grown  again, 
but  by  that  time  the  taming  will  be  complete,  so 
that  their  removal  will  be  unnecessary. 

With  the  Opisthoglypha  the  removal  of  the 
fangs  is  unnecessary,  as  their  poison  is  so  slight, 
and  the  grooved  fangs,  being  at  the  back  of  the 
mouth,  seldom  enter  you  when  they  bite. 

Nearly  all  the  Ceylon  snakes  do  well  in 
captivity,  with  the  exceptions  already  mentioned 
and  the  Uropeltidae  and  some  varieties  of  the 
smaller  Colubrinae,  Aspidura,  Oligodon,  Polyo- 
dontophis,  and  Lycodon. 
Feeding  Although  it  is  a  common  belief  that  snakes 

deadlnrmais.  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  things  that  they  kill  themselves,  I  find 
'  that  they  will  eat  dead  food  provided  that  not  the 
least  decomposition  has  set  in  and  the  animal  has 
not  been  at  all  cut  about.  When  first  captured 
snakes  show  a  marked  dislike  for  ready-killed  food, 
but  will  swallow  it  when  forced  to  do  so  by  hunger, 
and  when  they  have  once  done  so  will  always  be 
ready  to  take  it  in  the  future.  The  intervals 
during  which  a  snake  can  go  without  food  is 
extraordinary.  I  have  known  a  python  live  without 
food  for  as  much  as  six  months,  while  a  cobra  will 
sometimes  refuse  food  for  a  month.  During  these 
intervals  of  fasting  the  snake  lives  on  a  reserve 
supplv  of  fat  which  surrounds  the  stomach. 

Before  skin-shedding  a  snake  will  refuse  food 
so  as  to  be  able  to  get  its  skin  off  easily,  but 
sometimes  instinct  gives  way  to  greediness,  and  I 
have  often  had  snakes  die  through  eating  a  large 


65 

meal  before  skin-shedding,  and  being  unable  to  cast 
the  epidermis  they  died  from  suffocation. 

When  there  is  likelihood  of  a  snake  being  E>ifficuity  in 
unable  to  cast  its  skin  all  danger  of  death  may  be  '"  casting, 
eliminated  by  just  scratching  the  epidermis  with 
the  point  of  a  knife  along  the  ventrals.  This 
causes  no  pain,  as  the  epidermis  when  ready  for 
casting  is  merely  a  thin  substance,  something  like 
tissue  paper,  and  contains  no  nerves.  By  slitting 
this  open  it  not  only  eases  the  snake,  but  enables 
the  latter  to  rub  it  off  easier. 

When  at  Madras  I  saw  a  large  collection  of  ^''^^^^^^^J"  *^^ 
live  snakes  in  the  Museum.  There  were,  as  far  as  Museum. 
I  can  remember,  two  NaiaTripudians,  one  Cerberus 
Rynchops,  one  Tropidonotus  Piscator,  one 
Lycodon  Aulicus,  one  Lycodon  Carinatus,  one 
Python  Molurus,  one  Zamenis  Mucosus,  one 
Helicops  Schistosus,  two  Vipera  Russellii,  one 
Echis  Carinata,  one  Gongylophis  Conicus  (a 
somewhat  large  specimen),  several  Dryophis 
Mycterizans,  one  Bungarus  Ceylonicus,  one 
Tropidonotus  Stolatus,  one  Ancistrodon  Hypnale, 
and  several  other  varieties. 

The  two  cobras  looked  out  of  condition,  and 
were  suffering  badly  from  tics.  The  other  snakes 
seemed  to  be  doing  well,  but  I  do  not  remember 
seeing  any  of  striking  dimensions.  The  python 
was  a  young  one  of  about  eight  feet  in  length. 

At  the  Madras  Zoological  Gardens  I  saw  a 
most  magnificent  specimen  of  python,  and  was  told 
by  the  keeper  that  it  was  27  feet  in  length,  and 
judging  from  its  thickness  his  estimate  must  have 
been  very  near  right.*  These  large  pythons  are 
not  nearly  so  common  as  is  commonly  imagined,  p^^^ons 
and  it  is  seldom  that  one  finds  a  python  in  cap- 


*  There  is  at  the  Zoological  Gardens  at  Regent's  Park  a  very 
fine  Python  Reticulatus  of  25  feet. 


66 

tivity  measuring  over  twenty  feet,  though  it  may 
be  thought  to  be  about  thirty  feet  by  those  who 
have  not  measured  it. 
Fine  When  at  Peradeniya  Gardens  (close  to  Kandy) 

at  Peradeniya  I  saw  among  the  collection  of  snakes  kept  by  Mr. 
E.  Green,  a  very  large  specimen  of  Ancistrodon 
Hypnale,  which,  judging  from  the  size  of  the  head, 
which  was  nearly  as  large  as  the  first  joint  of  a 
man's  thumb,  must  have  been  nearly  two  feet  in 
length.  Mr.  Green  very  kindly  showed  me  also  a 
curious  bottled  specimen  of  the  above  snake  that 
had  for  its  tail  a  short  blunt  stump,  such  as  may  be 
found  among  the  Uropeltidae. 


6; 


Chapter  X. 

THE    COMMON    BOIDAE,    VIPERIDAE, 
AND  COLUBRIDAE  OF  CEYLON.* 

Only  one  specimen  of  the  Boidae  is  to  be 
found  in  Ceylon — the  Python  Molurus. 

Python  Molurus. 

Head  an  elongated  triangle,  11-13  upper 
labials,  the  two  in  front  pitted  ;  17  or  18  lower 
labials.  Frontal  divided  by  a  median  line.  Two 
prae-oculars,  and  three  or  four  post-oculars. 
Scales  in  60  to  70  rows.  Ventrals  242-265,  anal 
entire,  sub-caudals  60-72.     Tail  prehensile. 

Colour,  yellowish  or  brown,  with  a  vertebral 
series  of  large  black  or  brown  blotches,  supple- 
mented by  lateral  series  of  small  black  blotches. 
Upper  surface  of  head  pink,  with  a  dark  "  split 
pointed  spear"  mark,  an  offset  of  the  marking  q^'^^^ boidae. 
the  nape.  Ventrals  t  yellowish  and  spotted  near 
edges.  Grows  to  over  20  feet,  but  in  Ceylon  seldom 
exceeds  12  feet.  It  has  vestiges  of  rudimentary 
hind  legs  protruding  through  the  skin. 

This  snake  is  nocturnal,  and  is  almost  blind 
in  the  daytime.  It  is  very  fond  of  water,  and  in- 
cubates its  eggs  by  coiling  round  them.  It  feeds 
on  small  animals  and  birds. 

Although  it  has  not  yet  been  found  in  Ceylon, 
the  Gongylophis  is  an  interesting  snake,  and  does 

*  In  preparing  this  chapter  I  have  obtained  much  valuable 
information  from  Mr.  Boulenger's  volume  on  "  Reptilia  and 
Batrachia  of  British  India." 

t  Where  the  colour  of  the  ventrals  only  is  given,  the  sub- 
caudals  are  of  the  same  colour,  the  colour  of  the  ventrals  and  the 
sub-caudals  being  nearly  always  uniform. 


68 

well    in    captivity.      I    therefore   append  a   brief 
description. 

Gongylophis  Coniciis. 

Head  triangular,  and  covered  with  small 
scales,  12  to  14  upper  labials  ;  scales  very  strongly 
keeled  ;  ventrals  168-176 ;  anal  entire,  and  sub- 
caudals  17-24  single. 

Colour,  light  grey,  with  a  dark,  wide  zigzag 
pattern  along  the  back,  and  covering  most  of  the 
body.     Ventrals  white.     Length  two  feet. 

This  snake  eats  rats  and  mice,  constricts  its 
prey,  and  in  general  habits  resembles  the  python, 
even  in  its  love  for  water.  Visible  vestiges  of  hind 
legs  are  found  in  the  male  but  not  in  the  female. 
The  Gongylophis  is  found  in  most  parts  of  India, 
and  snake-charmers  often  amputate  the  end  of  the 
tail  and  show  the  snake  as  a  "two-headed  serpent." 

The  Viperldae. 

Viper  a  Russellii  (Viperinae). 

Head  triangular,  snout  obtuse,  nostrils  large 
between  three  shields,  a  narrow,  supra-ocular  shield, 
head  covered  with  small,  strongly-keeled  scales, 
II  or  12  upper  labials,  scales  strongly  keeled  and 
in  27-31  rows,  ventrals  163-172,  anal  entire,  sub- 
caudal  s  45-60  in  two  rows. 

Colour,  brown,  with  a  black,  chain-like  pattern 
The  along   the    back,    and   blotches    along   the   sides, 

vipendae.  yentrals  white  or  cream-coloured,  andoften  spotted. 
Length  about  4  ft.  6  in.  (adult). 

The  Vipera  Rusellii  utters  a  peculiar  long- 
drawn  cry  at  night,  which  may  be  of  almost  any 
note  in  the  scale.  The  bite  of  this  viper  is  very 
deadly.  It  is  nocturnal  and  ovoviviparous.  A 
specimen  that  I  kept  in  captivity  bore  22  young ; 
one  alive,  nine  dead,  but  free  from  the  egg  coverings 
and  twelve  still  in  their  eggs. 


69 

Ancistrodon  Hypnale  {Crotalinae). 

Head  triangular  and  distinct  from  neck,  snout 
much  turned  up  at  end,  and  covered  with  small 
scale-like  shields  on  upper  surface,  one  or  two  post- 
oculars,  one  or  two  sub-oculars,  7  or  8  upper  labials, 
and  a  loreal  pit.  Scales  slightly  keeled  in  17  or  19 
rows,  ventrals  140-155,  anal  entire,  sub-caudals 
31-45  pairs. 

Colour  brown  or  ash,  with  large,  black,  alternat- 
ing spots  along  each  side  of  the  vertebrae.  Upper 
lip  with  white  line,  belly  a  dust-like  brown.  Size 
about  15  inches. 

This  snake  when  disturbed  will  proceed  along 
the  ground  with  short  jumps.  Its  bite  is  seldom 
fatal. 

Trimeresitrus  Trigonocephahis  (Crotalinae). 

Head  pear-shaped,  snout  very  short,  upper 
portion  of  head  scale  covered,  internasals  very 
large,  large  supra-ocular  divided  in  two,  two  or 
three  post-ocular  and  a  sub-ocular,  upper  labials 
9  or  10,  and  loreal  pit  touching  second  labial, 
scales  smooth  or  faintly  keeled  in  17-19  rows, 
ventrals  147-152,  anal  entire,  sub-caudals  57-67 
pairs.  Colour  bright  green,  plain,  or  with  black 
markings,  ventrals  yellow,  end  of  tail  black.  Grows 
to  2  feet  4  inches.     Tail  prehensile. 

A  nocturnal  and  gentle  snake,  is  sometimes 
found  on  the  tea  bushes  in  estates,  and  confines 
itself  strictly  to  certain  localities.  The  bite  is 
seldom  fatal. 

Colubridae. 

Sub-Family  Colubrinae.  Solid  toothed. 
Harmless.  (Many  of  the  uncommon  varieties  have 
been  omitted.) 


Colubridae. 


70 

Aspidura  Brachyorrhos. 

Head  not  distinct  from  neck,  eye  small  with 
round  pupil,  nasals  very  small,  a  single  internasal, 
frontal  a  little  longer  than  its  distance  from  end  of 
snout,  two-thirds  the  length  of  the  parietals,  supra- 
ocular more  than  half  the  length  of  the  frontal, 
praefrontals  in  contact  with  second  and  third 
upper  labials,  separated  from  the  eye  by  a  prae- 
ocular,  two  post-oculars  ;  six  upper  labials,  fourth 
entering  the  eye,  four  lower  labials  in  contact  with 
anterior  chin  shields.  Scales  in  17  rows,  smooth. 
Ventrals  139-154,  anal  entire,  sub-caudals  27-38, 
body  cylindrical. 

Colour  reddish  brown,  with  four  indistinct, 
longitudinal  streaks,  and  a  vertebral  series  of  black 
dots.  Nape  with  black  cross-streaks.  Ventrals 
yellow.  Grows  to  14  inches.  Found  only  in  the 
mountains,  and  is  peculiar  to  Ceylon. 

A  spidura  Trachyprocta. 

Like  the  above,  only  it  has  15  rows  of  scales ; 
ventrals  120-147;  sub-caudals  13-25  single. 

Colour  brown  or  black,  with  a  longitudinal 
series  of  small  black  spots  and  a  dark  lateral  streak. 
Ventrals  black,  or  yellow  spotted  with  black.  Grows 
to  15  inches. 

Lycodon  Atiliciis, 

Head  pear-shaped,  bulging  out  from  snout, 
and  slightly  distinct  from  neck,  eye  small,  inter- 
nasals  much  shorter  than  the  prae-frontals,  frontal 
shorter  than  its  distance  from  end  of  snout,  and 
shorter  than  the  parietals,  one  prae-ocular,  two 
post-oculars  ;  nine  upper  labials,  3rd,  4th,  and  5th 
entering  the  eye,  four  or  five  labials  in  contact  with 
anterior  chin  shields.  Scales  smooth,  in  17  rows. 
Ventrals  183-209,  anal  divided,  sub-caudals  57-77, 


71 

in  two  rows.  Body  cylindrical,  or  slightly 
compressed. 

Colouration  variable  ;  brown  or  black  above, 
encircled  with  white  rings,  or  with  white  cross  bands 
on  posterior  half  of  the  body.  Ventrals  white. 
Grows  to  19  inches. 

This  snake  often  lives  in  houses,  where  some- 
times a  colony  of  six  or  seven  may  be  found. 

Lycodon  Carinatiis. 

Like  the  above,  only  it  has  its  scales  keeled, 
and  in  19  rows.  Ventrals  188-194,  anal  entire,  and 
sub-caudals  53-64,  single. 

Colour  like  the  preceding,  only  in  the  young 
the  back  of  the  head  is  white.    Grows  to  26  inches. 

The  Lycodon  Carinatus  is  not  so  common  in 
Ceylon  as  the  Lycodon  Aulicus. 

Polydontophis  Stibptmctahis, 

Head  short,  slightly  distinct  from  neck,  eye 
small  with  round  pupil,  frontal  longer  than  its 
distance  from  end  of  snout,  as  long  as  parietals,  or 
a  little  shorter  ;  one  prae-ocular,  two  post-oculars, 
both  in  contact  with  parietal ;  nine  or  ten  upper 
labials,  5th  and  6th  entering  the  eye  ;  four  lower 
labials  in  contact  with  anterior  chin  shields.  Scales 
in  17  rows,  smooth.  Ventrals  151-220  ;  anal 
divided  ;  sub-caudals  47-76,  double.  Body  cylin- 
drical.    Grows  to  17  inches. 

Colour  pale  brown  or  black,  with  small  black 
spots  along  the  vertebrae,  and  also  along  the  sides. 
Head  and  neck  dark.  Two  bands  across  front  and 
back  of  neck,  enclosing  broad  yellow  collar  which 
is  itself  bisected  by  a  black  median  line  extending 
to  a  transverse  line  between  the  eyes.  Ventrals 
yellow,  with  a  dot  near  each  outer  edge.  A  pretty 
little  snake,  which  is  almost  unmistakeable  on 
account  of  its  yellow  collar. 


72 

Ablabes  Calamaria. 

Head  short  and  hardly  distinct  from  neck, 
eye  small  with  round  pupil,  single  nasal  shield, 
frontal  longer  than  its  distance  from  end  of 
snout,  slightly  shorter  than  the  parietals,  one  prae- 
ocular,  and  two  post-oculars  (only  upper  one  in 
contact  with  parietal),  seven  upper  labials,  third  and 
fourth  entering  the  eye ;  four  lower  labials  in 
contact  with  the  anterior  chin  shields.  Scales  in 
15  rows,  smooth  (or  feebly  keeled)  Ventrals 
130-154;  anal  divided;  sub-caudals  64-76  in  two 
rows.     Body  cylindrical.     Grows  to  15  inches. 

Colour  pale  brown,  sometimes  with  two  longi- 
tudinal lines.     Ventrals  yellowish. 

Simotes  Arnensis. 

Head  short,  not  distinct  from  neck  ;  eye 
small  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  as  long  as  its 
distance  from  end  of  snout,  or  a  little  shorter,  a 
little  shorter  than  the  parietals  ;  one  prae-ocular, 
twopost-oculars,  seven  upper  labials,  third  and  fourth 
entering  the  eye  ;  four  lower  labials  in  contact 
anterior  chin  shields.  Scales  in  17  rows,  smooth 
or  faintly  keeled.  Ventrals  170-202,  and  angulate 
laterally  ;  anal  divided  ;  sub-caudals  41-59,  in  two 
rows.     Body  cylindrical.     Grows  to  24J  inches. 

Colour  pale  brown,  with  thick  and  distinct 
black  bands.  A  black  band  between  the  eyes,  and 
a  black  chevron  behind,  with  the  frontal  as  apex. 
Ventrals  yellow,  sometimes  spotted  brown.  Grows 
to  22  inches. 

Oligodon  Sublmeatus, 

Head  short,  scarcely  distinct  from  neck.  Eye 
small  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  longer  than  its 
distance  from  the  end  of  the  snout,  as  long  as,  or 


73 

slightly  longer  than,  the  parietals.  Prae-ocular 
single,  two  post-oculars  ;  upper  labials  seven,  third 
and  fourth  entering  the  eye.  Four  lower  labials  in 
contact  with  the  anterior  chin  shields.  Scales  in 
15  rows.  Ventrals  136-159  ;  anal  divided,  sub- 
caudals  26-35. 

Colour  pale  brown,  often  with  a  series  of  dark 
spots  arranged  along  the  sides  in  pairs.  Head 
marked  dark  brown,  with  transverse  band  passing 
through  eyes,  crossed  by  a  longitudinal  band  from 
frontal  to  end  of  parietals.  Black  spot  on  each 
side  of  the  neck.  Ventrals  yellowish,  with  three 
series  of  small  black  spots,  two  lines  of  them  being 
along  the  edges  of  the  ventrals  and  one  line  in  the 
centre.     Body  cylindrical.     Grows  to  10  inches. 

Oligodon  Templetonii, 

Much  the  same  as  above,  except  that  frontal 
is  much  longer  than  its  distance  from  the  end  of 
the  snout,  and  as  long  as  the  parietals.  Three 
lower  labials  in  contact  with  anterior  chin  shields. 
Ventrals  135,  sub-caudals  21. 

Colour,  brown,  with  yellow,  vertebral  streak, 
which  is  crossed  by  about  18  narrow,  dark  brown 
bands,  an  oblique  band  below  eye,  but  other  head 
markings  indistinct.  Ventrals  white,  with  square 
black  spots,  both  colours  being  distributed  in  nearly 
equal  proportion. 

Not  so  common  as  Oligodon  Sublineatus. 

Zamenis  Mucosits. 

Head  elongate  and  distinct  from  neck.  Eye 
large,  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  as  long  as  its 
distance  from  the  end  of  the  snout,  as  long  as  the 
parietals,  or  slightly  shorter  ;  one  praeocular,  with 
a  small  subocular  below,  and  two  postoculars;  eight 
upper  labials,  fourth  and  fifth  entering  the  eye  ; 


74 

five  lower  labials  in  contact  with  anterior  chin 
shields.  Scales  keeled  (often  strongly)  and  in 
seventeen  rows.  Ventrals  190-208,  anal  divided; 
subcaudals  95-135,  divided.  Average  size  six  feet 
six  inches,  but  I  have  obtained  specimens  in 
Ceylon  over  nine  feet  in  length. 

Colour,  brown,  grey  or  black,  sometimes  with 
a  very  deep  green  tinge,  body  often  has  narrow 
black  crossbands  on  the  anterior  portion  and  on 
the  tail.  Ventrals  yellow  (low  country  in  Ceylon), 
or  white  (up-country  in  Ceylon).  Young  are  light 
in  colour,  and  somewhat  resemble  the  Zamenis 
fasciolatus. 

This  snake  is  the  largest  of  the  Colubridae 
(except  perhaps  the  Naia  Bungarus,  which,  how- 
ever, is  not  found  in  Ceylon).  It  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Rat-snake  (Dhaman  in  India),  and  is 
the  commonest  of  Ceylon  snakes,  being  often 
found  in  the  roofs  of  bungalows,  where  it  goes  to 
catch  rats.  Very  swift  in  movement,  and  extremely 
savage  if  hurt  or  cornered. 

Coluber  Helena. 

Head  distinct  from  neck.  Eye  moderate, 
with  round  pupil.  Frontal  as  long  as  its  distance 
end  of  snout,  shorter  than  the  parietals ;  one  large 
praeocular,  two  postoculars.  Nine  (sometimes  ten 
or  eleven)  upper  labials,  fifth  and  sixth,  or  fourth, 
fifth  and  sixth  entering  the  eye ;  five  or  six  lower 
labials  in  contact  with  the  anterior  chin  shields. 
Scales  in  23  to  27  rows,  smooth  (or  feebly  keeled), 
Ventrals  220-265  ;  anal  entire  ;  subcaudals  75-94, 
in  two  rows.  Body  elongate  and  slightly  com- 
pressed,    Grows  to  between  four  and  five  feet. 

Colour,  light  brown  with  dark  crossbands  or 
festoon  marks  enclosing  white  ocelli.  In  the  adult 
the  marking  is  indistinct  or  absent.  It  usually  has 
a  vertebral  series  of  black  spots  on  anterior  part  of 


75 

the  body,  and  a  parallel  series  of  dorsal  spots^ 
sometimes  with  a  black,  white-edged  collar.  A 
vertical  black  streak  below  eye,  and  an  oblique  one 
behind  it.  Ventrals  yellowish,  sometimes  with  a 
few  small  black  spots. 

A  very  gentle  snake,  with  a  peculiar  habit  of 
encircling  and  holding  its  prey  in  its  coils.  It 
does  not  crush  its  prey,  but  merely  holds  it  in  this 
manner  while  getting  its  teeth  fixed  on  the  head. 
Unlike  the  python,  it  encircles  its  prey  by  coiling 
its  body  round  it,  instead  of  rolling  over  and  round 
it,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Boidae. 

Dendrophis  Pictus. 

Head  distinct  from  neck,  and  elongate.  Eye 
large,  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  as  long  as  its 
distance  from  the  end  of  the  snout,  as  long  as  the 
parietals,  or  a  little  shorter ;  one  praeocular,  two 
or  three  postoculars.  Nine  or  ten  upper  labials, 
fifth  and  sixth,  or  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  entering 
the  eye ;  five  lower  labials  in  contact  with  the 
anterior  chin  shields.  Scales  in  15  rows,  smooth, 
with  apical  pits,  vertebrals  as  large  as  outer  row. 
Ventrals  167-205  ;  anal  divided ;  subcaudals 
1 10- 1 50,  in  two  rows.  Body  elongate  and  com- 
pressed.    Grows  to  four  feet. 

Colour,  olive  or  bronze  above,  with  yellow 
vertebral  band  along  one-third  of  the  anterior 
portion  of  the  body.  Yellow  longitudinal  dorsal 
streaks.  Epidermis  (between  the  scales)  bright 
blue  near  neck.  Black  streak  from  eye  to  lip, 
which  is  yellow.  Ventrals  yellowish  or  pale 
greenish. 

A  timid  and  swift-moving  snake,  found  on 
trees  and  bushes. 

Tropidonotus  Ceylonensis . 

Head  distinct  from  neck.     Eye  moderate  or 


76 

rather  large  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  longer 
than  its  distance  from  end  of  snout,  as  long  as  the 
parietals ;  two  praeoculars,  three  postoculars ; 
eight  upper  labials,  fourth  and  fifth  entering  the 
eye  ;  four  lower  labials  in  contact  with  the  anterior 
chin  shields.  Scales  in  19  rows,  strongly  keeled 
(except  sometimes  the  outer  row).  Ventrals 
133-141  ;  anal  divided  ;  subcaudals  48-54,  in  two 
rows.  Body  cylindrical.  Grows  to  eighteen  inches. 
Colour,  brown,  with  black  crossbands  and 
large  black-edged  ocelli  along  the  back  (indistinct 
in  adult).  Black  band  on  each  side  of  head 
behind  eye,  and  oblique  band  on  each  side  of  nape 
and  the  space  between  yellow.  Ventrals  uniform 
yellowish,  sometimes  anterior  portion  powdered 
brown. 

Tropidonotus  Piscator  (Quincunciatus).     Known  in 

Ceylon  as  T.  Asperrimus. 

The  same  as  the  above,  except  that  the  eye  is 
smaller.  It  has  one  praeocular  ;  nine  upper  labials, 
five  lower  labials  in  contact  with  anterior  chin 
shields.  Ventrals  125-158  ;  subcaudals  64-90. 
Grows  to  three  feet  six  inches. 

Colour  variable ;  usually  with  dark  spots 
arranged  in  rows  of  five,  separated  by  a  white 
network,  and  often  invisible  on  the  posterior  part 
of  the  body ;  sometimes  the  spots  are  replaced  by 
white  cone-shaped  bands  arranged  along  the 
vertebrae,  on  which  their  apices  are.  Head  marks 
the  same  as  in  the  preceding  variety.  Ventrals 
white  or  pale  pinkish. 

The  common  "water-snake"  of  Ceylon.  Very 
numerous  in  paddy  fields.     Savage. 

Tropidonottcs  Stolatus. 

Same  as  T.  Quincunciatus,  only  eye  moderate. 
Frontal    as   long   as    the    parietals ;    eight    upper 


77 

labials,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  entering  the  eye  ; 
sometimes  six  lower  labials  in  contact  with  the 
anterior  chin  shields.  Ventrals  125-161  ;  subcau- 
dals  50-85.     Grows  to  two  feet. 

Colour,  brown,  with  black  crossbars  intersected 
by  two  longitudinal  yellow  lines.  Ventrals  white, 
often  with  a  black  spot  at  the  edge  of  each.  Nape 
red  during  breeding  season. 

Noc  so  aquatic  as  T.  Piscator.  A  very  gentle 
snake. 

Helicops  Schistosus. 

Head  slightly  distinct  from  neck.  Eye 
moderate,  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  much  longer 
than  its  distance  from  end  of  snout,  shorter  than 
the  parietals  ;  one  prae,  two  or  three  postoculars  ; 
eight  or  nine  upper  labials,  third  and  fourth  or 
fourth  and  fifth  entering  the  eye  ;  four  or  five 
lower  labials  in  contact  with  anterior  chin  shields. 
Scales  more  or  less  keeled  in  19  rows.  Ventrals 
129-151  ;  anal  divided ;  subcaudals  55-85  in  two 
rows.  Body  stout  and  cylindrical.  Grows  to 
two  and  a  half  feet. 

Colour,  dark  brown,  sometimes  with  small 
spots  along  the  back.  Dark  crimson  streak  along 
last  rows  of  scales  on  each  side.     Ventrals  yellow. 

A  very  common  snake,  often  found  in  rivers 
and  streams  in  Ceylon. 

Dipsadinae.     A  sub-family  belonging  to  the  back- 
fanged  order.     Slightly  poisonous. 

Dipsas  Ceylonensis. 

Head  spade-shaped  and  very  distinct  from 
neck.  Eye  vertically  elliptic  and  shorter  than 
snout.  Internasals  shorter  than  praefrontals. 
Frontal  longer  than  its  distance  from  end  of  snout,, 


78 

and  slightly  shorter  than  parietals ;  one  or  two 
praeoculars  reaching  upper  surface  of  head ;  two 
postoculars  ;  eight  upper  labials,  third,  fourth  and 
fifth  entering  eye  ;  four  lower  labials  in  contact 
with  anterior  chin  shields.  Body  strongly  com- 
pressed. Scales  in  19  or  21  rows,  slightly  slanting; 
vertebral  scales  much  enlarged,  nearly  as  broad  as 
long  in  middle  of  body.  Ventrals  214-249;  anal 
entire;  subcaudals  90-117  .     Tail  prehensile. 

Colour,  brown,  with  black  heart-shaped  marks, 
sometimes  terminating  in  dorsal  streaks,  along  the 
vertebrae.  Black  blotch  or  bars  on  neck,  a  dark 
streak  from  eye  to  eighth  upper  labial.  Ventrals 
yellowish  and  dotted  brown.  Grows  to  four  feet 
three  inches. 

This  snake  is  nocturnal,  and  is  often  found  in 
the  thatched  roofs  of  houses.  Being  of  the  back- 
fanged  order,  it  is  only  slightly  poisonous.  It 
becomes  very  tame  in  captivity. 

Dipsas  Barnesii. 

Resembles  the  above,  but  has  eye  as  long  as 
snout ;  three  praeoculars,  fourth  and  fifth  upper 
labials  entering  eye.  Scales  in  19  rows,  hardly 
oblique,  vertebrals  slightly  enlarged.  Ventrals 
220,  and  subcaudals  99.     It  grows  to  21  inches. 

Colour,  greyish  brown,  with  lighter  black- 
edged  transverse  spots,  black  dorsal  spots,  black 
band  behind  the  eye,  and  labial  suture  blackish. 
Ventrals  white,  powdered  brown. 

Dipsas  Forstenii. 

Very  much  like  Dipsas  Ceylonensis,  but  has 
eye  as  long  as  snout.  Frontal  longer  than  its 
distance  from  end  of  snout ;  sometimes  three 
postoculars  ;  eight  to  eleven  upper  labials,  third, 
fourth,   fifth,   or   fourth,   fifth  and  sixth  entering 


79 

eye  ;  three  or  four  lower  labials  touching  chin 
shields  ;  vertebral  scales  feebly  enlarged.  Ventrals 
259-270  ;  subcaudals  106-131. 

Colour,  brown,  rarely  reddish,  with  angular 
crossbars,  but  other  features  are  the  same  as  in 
Dipsas  Ceylonensis.    Grows  to  four  feet  ten  inches. 

Dryophis  Mycterizans. 

Head  triangular  and  very  elongate,  distinct 
from  neck,  and  with  a  dermal  appendage  at  end  of 
snout.  Eye  large,  with  horizontal  pupil.  Frontal 
as  long  as  the  parietals,  or  a  little  longer ;  two 
praeoculars,  a  small  sub-ocular,  and  two  post- 
oculars  ;  eight  upper  labials,  the  fifth  entering  the 
eye ;  four  lower  labials  bordering  chin  shields. 
Scales  m  15  rows.  Ventrals  172-188  ;  anal  divided  ; 
subcaudals  140-166  (in  two  rows).  Body  elongate 
and  compressed. 

Colour,  bright  green,  with  black  chevrons  on 
the  epidermis.  Yellow  Hnes  along  the  edges  of  the 
ventrals,  which  are  pale  green.  Grows  to  four  feet 
eight  inches  (up-country)  and  five  feet  ten  inches 
(low  country). 

This  snake  is  found  on  trees  and  shrubs. 
Although  belonging  to  a  nocturnal  family,  it  is 
often  seen  out  in  the  daytime.  When  alarmed 
the  snake  has  a  habit  of  opening  its  mouth  and 
stretching  its  lower  jaw  into  the  form  ot  a  square, 
which  gives  it  a  most  threatening  appearance. 

The  up-country  (hill)  varieties  are  much 
smaller  than  the  low  country  ones.  Of  the  two 
hill  varieties,  one  has  green  ventrals  and  the 
other  dark  red  ones. 

Dryophis  Pulverulenttcs. 

Same  as  the  above,  only  it  has  182-194  ven- 
trals, 1.54-173  subcaudals. 


8o 

Colour,  grey,  powdered  brown. 
More  nocturnal  in  its  habits  than    Dryophis 
Mycterizans. 

Chrysopalea  Ornata. 

Head  elongate  and  distinct  from  neck.  Inter- 
nasals  nearly  as  long  as  praefrontals,  only  much 
narrower.  Frontal  bell-shaped,  and  nearly  as  long 
as  its  distance  from  end  of  snout,  as  long  as  the 
parietals,  or  slightly  shorter ;  one  prae  and  two 
postoculars  ;  nine  or  ten  upper  labials,  fifth  and 
sixth,  or  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  entering  the  eye ; 
five  lower  labials  bordering  chin  shields.  Scales  in 
17  rows.  Ventrals  204-236;  anal  divided;  sub- 
caudals  1 18-138.  Body  slightly  elongate  and 
compressed.    Grows  to  about  three  feet  ten  inches. 

Colour,  black,  with  large  red  flower-shaped 
spots  along  the  back,  and  each  scale  spotted 
yellow.  Ventrals  yellow,  head  black,  with  yellow 
bars. 

Another  variety  also  is  found  in  Ceylon  : — 
Pale  olive,  with  black  transverse  bars,  a  black  spot 
at  the  edges  of  each  ventral. 

Found  among  cocoanut  trees,  but  is  rather 
rare. 

Sub-Family  Elapinae.     Anterior   maxillary   teeth 

grooved.     Poisonous. 

Bmigarus  Ceyloniciis. 

Head  round  and  scarcely  distinct  from  neck. 
Eye  small,  with  round  pupil.  Frontal  a  little 
longer  than  broad,  sometimes  as  long  as  its 
distance  from  end  of  snout,  much  shorter  than 
parietals  ;  one  praeocular  ;  two  postoculars  ;  seven 
upper  labials,  third  and  fourth  entering  the  eye  ; 
three  lower  labials  in  contact  with  anterior  chin 
shields.  Scales  in  15  rows,  smooth;  vertebrals 
enlarged,  hexagonal  and  broader  than  long.     Ven- 


8i 

trals  224-235;  anal  entire;  subcaudals  35-40 
single.  Body  round,  tail  cylindrical.  Grows  to 
three  feet. 

Colour,  black,  encircled  white.  Back  of  adult 
sometimes  with  white  blotches  instead  of  rings. 
Ventrals  white,  banded  black,  as  in  the  cobra  ; 
ventrals  of  young  uniform  white. 

A  very  poisonous  snake,  which  is  not  often 
met  with  in  Ceylon,  except  in  certain  localities. 

Naia  Tripudians  (Common  Cobra). 

Head  slightly  distinct  from  neck.  Eye  small, 
with  round  pupil.  Internasal  in  contact  with  the 
praeocular.  Frontal  as  long  as  its  distance  from 
the  nostril,  or  a  little  shorter,  much  shorter  than 
the  parietals;  one  praeocular  and  three  postoculars; 
seven  upper  labials,  third  and  fourth  entering  the 
eye  ;  four  lower  labials  in  contact  with  anterior 
chin  shields.  23  to  27  scales  across  the  neck,  19 
to  23  across  the  centre  of  the  body.  Ventrals 
170-206;  anal  entire;  subcaudals  49-75,  double. 
Body  cylindrical,  and  neck  dilatable  to  a  great 
extent.     Grows  to  five  feet  two  inches. 

Colour,  very  variable.  Ceylonese  varieties  are 
mostly  grey,  brown,  black,  and  sometimes  rusty 
coloured,  almost  always  flecked  with  white  or  light 
yellow,  and  have  faint  white  chevrons  on  the 
epidermis,  with  the  vertebrals  as  their  apices. 
Neck  with  an  inverted  white  spectacle  pattern, 
edged  black,  and  often  on  a  pinkish  ground.  This 
pattern  may  sometimes  be  incomplete,  or  even 
absent.     Ventrals  white,  with  broad  black  bars. 

This  snake  is  the  commonest  deadly  snake  in 
Ceylon.  It  can  be  distinguished  from  all  other 
snakes  by  the  presence  of  a  small  wedge-shaped 
scale  lying  between  the  lower  labials  and  the 
mouth.  The  hood  of  the  cobra  measures  about 
one  inch  in  width  to  every  foot  of  the  snake's 
length.  The  cobra  can  erect  its  body  to  the 
height  of  about  one-third  of  its  length. 


82 


Chapter  XL 

SOME  LEGENDS  AND    STORIES   ABOUT 

SNAKES. 

The  Python.  f^g  Python  Reticulatus  is  said  to  have  once 

A  Burmese       ,  ,,       i     •         i  •  t  11  11  •  t^ 

Legend.         been  a  ''  plain-skmned      snake,  but  it  got   Eve  to 
weave  patterns  on  its  back. 

This  reptile  was  at  that  time  so  poisonous 
that  if  it  bit  even  the  footstep  of  a  man,  the  man 
died.  The  Python,  however,  was  not  quite  sure  of 
its  deadly  power,  so  it  bit  the  footprint  of  a  man, 
and  asked  a  crow  to  follow  the  latter,  and  see 
whether  he  died.  So  the  Crow  followed  the  man, 
and  eventually  came  to  a  village  where  the  funeral 
of  the  dead  man  was  taking  place,  and  where  there 
was  much  noise  and  beating  of  tom-toms,  as  is 
the  custom  at  an  Eastern  funeral. 

The  Crow,  under  the  impression  that  the 
people  were  holding  a  festival,  returned  to  the 
Python  and  told  him  that  the  man  could  not  have 
died,  as  there  was  much  noise  and  rejoicing  in  the 
village. 

This  so  annoyed  the  Python  that  it  climbed  a 
tree,  spat  out  all  its  poison,  and  became  harmless. 

The  other  reptiles  then  came  and  licked  up 
the  poison,  but  the  Python  made  them  promise 
only  to  use  their  venom  under  provocation.  The 
Cobra  promised  that  it  would  bite  only  when  it  had 
been  provoked  seven  times  in  one  day.  The  water- 
snakes  and  frogs  refused  to  promise,  and  said  they 
would  bite  whenever  they  wished,  so  the  Python 
drove  them  into  the  water,  where,  their  poison 
being  washed  away,  they  became  harmless. 


83 

The  juice  of  the  tree  from  which  the  Python 
spat  out  its  poison  is  used  to  this  day  by  the 
natives  of  Burma  for  poisoning  their  arrows. 

The  following  legend  is  very  popular  with  and  The  Naga- 
fully  believed  in  by  the  Singhalese  :  ^^°°^' 

A  certain  cobra  goes  at  night  to  the  place 
where  it  is  accustomed  to  hunt,  and  ejects  from  its 
mouth  a  phosphorescent  stone,  or  jewel,  which 
attracts  the  frogs  and  lizards,  in  the  same  way  as  a 
candle  attracts  moths  and  flies.  The  cobra  then 
eats  as  many  of  them  as  he  requires. 

Cobras  containing  this  stone  are  reported  to 
be  very  rare  indeed,  and  unusually  large  and 
savage.  The  ''  naga  "  stone  is  said  to  be  obtain- 
able in  the  following  manner  : — 

"When  a  cobra,  supposed  to  possess  such  a 
stone,  has  been  discovered,  find  out  its  hunting 
ground  and  strip  the  bark  off  a  tree  near  by.  Then 
go  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  taking  a 
basket  of  manure  with  you.  When  the  snake  has 
ejected  the  stone  and  withdrawn  in  pursuit  of  frogs, 
fling  the  manure  over  the  jewel  and  climb  the  tree. 
On  its  return  the  cobra  will  be  unable  to  find  the 
stone,  its  light  being  hidden  under  the  manure.  In 
fury  the  snake  will  try  and  climb  the  tree  after  you, 
but  will  be  unable  to  do  so  owing  to  the  absence 
of  the  bark.  At  daybreak  the  cobra  may  go  away, 
in  which  case  the  stone  may  be  taken,  and  will 
bring  good  luck.  If,  however,  the  snake  dies  on 
the  spot  the  stone  will  bring  misfortune." 

The  cobra  might  be  called  "  the  patron  saint  The 
of  Buddhists,"    to    such   an    extent   is   the  snake  J^7|7X^"i°4 
deified   by   the  latter,    and    its  image  frequently  for  the 
occurs    in    old    stonework,     brasswork,    paintings,  ^°^^^' 
prints,    and  carving,  often  in  the   form  of  a  five- 
hooded  deity. 

In  many  representations  of  Buddha  a  cobra  is 
shown  in  the  act  of  sheltering  him  from  the  rays  of 


84 

the  sun,  with  its  extended  hood. 

A  common  behef  is  that  if  a  man  steps  on  a 
cobra,  the  latter  will  look  at  him.  If  the  man  is 
blind,  the  snake  will  not  hurt  him,  but  if  the  man 
can  see,  it  will  at  once  bite  him. 

The  Singhalese  do  not  attribute  to  the  cobra 
the  malicious  and  aggressive  nature  so  often  given 
to  it  by  Europeans.  They  regard  it  rather  as  a 
symbol  of  justice.  A  protecting  genius  to  those 
who  treat  it  well,  but  a  symbol  of  death  to  those 
who  maltreat  it.  But  apart  from  the  supernatural 
powers  they  endow  it  with,  their  idea  of  the  nature 
of  the  cobra  is  very  accurate. 

But  whereas  they  regard  the  cobra  as  a  symbol 

of  justice,  they  consider  the   Russell's  Viper  (Tic 

Polonga)    as    a    personification   of  a    devil.     The 

following  legend  gives  a  very  good  illustration  of 

their  convictions  in  this  respect : — 

The  Cobra  <<  A  Small  child  allowed  a  cobra  to  drink  out 

RusseiPs       of  her  chatty.     When  going  away  the  cobra  met  a 

Viper  (Tic     tic  polonga.     The  latter  asked  the  cobra  where  it 

Polonga).       (,Q^ij   £nd  somc  watcr  to    drink,   as  it  was  very 

thirsty.     The  cobra  replied  :  '  There  is  a  child  not 

far  from  here,  with  a  chatty  of  water,  who  will  give 

you  a  drink,  only  if  I  tell  you  whereabouts  she  is, 

you  must  promise  not  to  bite  her.'     The  polonga 

promised,  and  the  cobra  directed  it  to  the  child. 

''  The  viper  went,  and  having  drunk  from  the 
child's  chatty,  bit  the  child.  The  cobra,  however, 
had  mistrusted  the  viper,  and  had  followed  it,  to 
see  whether  it  kept  its  promise.  By  sucking  the 
poison  from  the  wound  the  cobra  saved  the  child's 
life,  and  afterwards  killed  the  viper  ;  the  cobra 
being  unusually  virulent,  having  the  viper's  poison 
as  well  as  its  own  in  its  system. 

"  Ever  since  there  has  been  enmity  between 
the  cobra  and  the  tic  polonga,  and  the  former  has 
always  been  able  to  swallow  the  latter." 


8s 

The  Singhalese  beHeve  that  great  fights  occur  Enmity 
between  the  cobra  and  the  Russell's  viper,  but  I  cobrTand^ 
have  never  known  of  a  case  myself,  though  I  have  the  Russeir? 
kept  cobras   and   Russell's  vipers  together  in  the    ^^^^* 
same   box.      There   is,    however,    in    the    Madras 
Museum    a  bottled    cobra,    killed    in    the    act    of 
swallowing  a  Russell's  viper  thicker  than  itself.     I 
have   never    before  known    cobras    to    show    can- 
nibalistic tendencies,  except  in  the  case  of  small 
varieties  of  snakes. 

There  is  also  a  belief  that  the  "  Mapila  " 
(Lycodon  Aulicus)  kills  people  by  sucking  away 
their  blood,  in  much  the  same  manner  as  a  leech, 
and  that  they  are  always  found  in  sevens.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Lycodons  are  often  found  living 
together  in  a  colony  in  one  house.  When  killed  the 
body  of  the  "  Mapila"  is  burned  by  the  natives,  to 
prevent  the  remaining  six  from  turning  up. 

The  Singhalese  name  given  to  theTropidonotus 
Stolatus  (and  applied  sometimes  to  the  Ancis- 
trodon  Hypnale)  means  "  Death  by  the  roadside," 
and  their  idea  is  that  this  snake  is  so  deadly  that 
after  biting  a  man,  it  hurries  out  of  the  way  to 
prevent  the  dead  body  of  the  person  bitten  from 
falling  on  it. 

When  looking  over  a  copy  of  the  magazine  Account  of 
''Once  a  Week,"   dated   1861,   I  cam.e  upon  the  ^e^P^^^ts, 
following    extract    from    an    essay    on    Serpents,  charies 
written  in  the  year  1741,   by  Charles  Owen,  D.D.,  ^^741"''" 
which  I  reproduce  : — 

*'  Serpents^  you  will  be  good  enough  to  remember^ 
are  of  three  kinds ^  the  Terrestialj  the  Aquatic^  and  the 
Amphibious.  There  be  some  with  legs  and  some 
without ;  some  viviparous  and  some  oviparous ;  some 
carniverous  and  some  vermivorous,  feeding  upon  worms 
and  other  reptiles  in  the  summer  time.  In  winter  time 
they  all  live  upon  air 

"    ....    //J  Norway  are  two  serpents  of  very 


86 

large  pvo{)oytions.  One  is  200  feet  long,  and  lives  in 
rocks  and  desolate  mountains  near  the  sea  abont  Bergen, 
which  in  summer  nights  ranges  about  in  quest  of 
plunder,  devouring  lambs,  calves,  swine,  and  other 
animals  that  fall  in  its  way.  In  a  calm  sea  it 
ransacks  the  superficies  of  the  water  (being  thus  clearly 
of  the  amphibious  division)  and  devours  the  polypus 
and  all  sorts  of  sea-crabs.    .    .    . 

"  ,  .  .  Upon  the  approach  of  a  shit>,  this  serpent 
lifts  up  its  head  above  the  water  and  snatches  at  the 
mariners,  and  rolls  itself  about  the  ship,  the  more 
effectually  to  secure  its  prey. 

*'  The  Henwrrhus  is  little  in  body,  but  terrible  in 
its  executions,  for  when  it  wounds  any  person  the  blood 
in  his  body  flows  out  at  all  the  apertures  of  it,  which  is 
immediately  followed  by  convulsions  and  death. 

The  Attaligatus  is  a  small,  slender  serpent,  not 
exceeding  in  size  the  quill  of  a  goose ;  not  poisonous  in 
nature,  but  very  mischievous,  for  these  little  creatures 
are  one  united  body,  and  live  in  community  and  never 
separate.  They  are  a  society  without  schism,  which  is 
more  than  can  be  said  of  all  human  societies,  civil  or 
ecclesiastic.  When  these  small,  harmonious  reptiles  go 
abroad,  they  travel  in  company  100  strong  or  more, 
and  when  they  find  any  asleep  they  immediately  seize 
the  body,  and  with  a  force  united  and  irresistible,  they 
devour  it.'^ 

Possibly  the  ''  small  slender  serpents  "  referred 
to  above  were  leeches.  Owen  also  makes  mention 
of  other  snakes  ;  *'  the  Acontia,  which  springs  upon 
its  prey  from  beneath  bushes,  after  turning  itself 
rapidly  round  and  round  on  the  ground  in  order  to 
obtain  the  rotary  motion  for  his  flight,  that  alone 
insures  accuracy  of  aim.  It  brings  down  men  at 
twenty  cubits  distance  " — a  certainly  novel  and 
somewhat  ingenious  way  of  "  striking."  On  the 
other  hand,  ''  the  Paubera  secures  prey  by  means 
of  a   hook   fastened   to   the   end  of  its  tail,  and 


87 

swallows  oxen  alive  and  entire."  The  *'  Paubera  " 
was  apparently  a  disciple  of  Isaac  Walton.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  snake  referred  to  was  probably 
a  Python,  and  natives  of  the  East  still  believe  that 
it  uses  its  tail  as  an  aggressive  organ. 

Mention  is  made  also  of  a  thirty-foot  snake  in 
Brazil,  presumably  the  Giant  Anaconda. 

There  is  a  common  belief  among  the  Sinhalese 
and  Tamils  that  the  Rat-snake  (Zamenis  Mucosus) 
is  a  very  low  caste  snake,  and  when  once  a  man 
has  been  bitten  by  it  no  other  snake  will  bite  him. 
They  also  believe  that  the  Russell's  viper  is  the 
young  of  the  python. 

An  interesting  account  of  the  poisonous  snakes  An  account 
of  Ceylon  is  to  be  found  in  Ribeiro's  '^  Ceilao,"  ^^^i^^ero?'" 
written  in  the  year  1685,  which  interesting  history  "  ceiiao.' 
has    recently    been    translated    into    English    by 
Mr.  P.  E.  Pieris.     Ribiero's  account  is  as  follows : 

"  There  are  also  four  kinds  of  venomous  snakes ; 
one  is  always  found  m  warni^  marshy  places^  and  is 
about  two  palms  in  length,  of  a  brown  colour,  with  a 
wide  belly  "  (probably  Russell's  viper  ?).  "  When  they 
bite  anyone  the  patient  cannot  shake  off  a  fearful  and 
deep  slumber,  in  which  he  dies  in  the  course  of  six  hours 
unless  relieved  by  remedies.  There  is  another  kind,  the 
bite  of  which  renders  the  patient  mad,  but  it  is  possible 
to  save  him  if  assistance  is  given  withtn  twenty-fotir 
hours.  There  is  a  third  kind,  wliich  is  still  more 
terrible;  whenever  they  bite  a  man  the  poor  patient's 
blood  pours  out  from  all  the  openings  in  his  body,  and 
when  he  reaches  this  condition  he  is  beyond  remedy. 
There  are  others,  again,  which  are  called  the  Cobra  de 
Capello;  although  these  are  very  poisonous,  no  Chingala 
will  kill  them,  or  consent  to  their  being  killed  if  he  can 
help  it.  They  assert  that  these  are  the  queens  of  the 
others,  and  that  they  do  not  bite  anyone  unless  they  are 
offended ;  and  also  that  if  any  man  kill  one  its  mother, 
father  or  sister  would  take  vengeance  for  the  death,  and 


88 


they  are  so  possessed  with  this  idea  that  if  one  were  to 
bite  their  wife  or  child  once  or  twice  they  would  not  do 
it  any  injury,  hut  only  summon  it  by  means  of  a  charm 
and  reprimand  it ;   the  consequence  is  that  they  kill  the 
more,      There   is   still   another  class   of  snakes,   the 
description   of  ivhich  would  appear  like  a  fable.     I 
would  myself  not  mention  it,  had  not  the  truth  of  it 
been   vouched  for   by   a  prominent  man  born  in  the 
island  itself,  and  very  well  acquainted  with  everything 
in   it;   for   although   the   report   is   persistent    it    is 
impossible   to    believe    it.      I   refer   to   my   comrade, 
Caspar  Figueira   de   Cerpe.     This  snake  is  of  the 
thickness  of  a  top-string.     Its  length  is  three  palms  and 
its  colour  brown''  {Dryophis  Pulverulentus  ?).      ''It 
places  itself  on  a  branch,  and  as  a  bull,  buffalo,  wild 
boar,  elk,  elephant,  or  any  other  animal  passes  below  so 
thai  it  can  touch  it,  the  bones,  nerves,  and  the  flesh  of 
the  part  through  which  the  venom  passes  rots  to  the 
thickness  of  the  snake's  body,  leaving,  however,  the  skin 
on   the  outside   intact  and  in  its  usual  state,  but  the 
animal  remains  there,  but  has  not  the  power  to  move, 
and  when  they  opened  some  of  these  animals  to  find  out 
what  was  the  matter,  they  discovered  such   were  its 
effects.     The  same  ill-luck  befel  a  Chingala,  and  he 
lived  for   some  years   in  this  fashion  without  being 
cured    but   they   do   say   that   these   snakes    are    not 
numerous.     There  are  others  of  a  green  colour,  of  the 
same  length  and  thickness  as  the  former.      These,  too, 
lie  on  branches,  and  as  a  man  or  animal  passes  by,  they 
pick  out  their  eyes."    {Probably  Dryophis  My cterizans, 
whose  "■  eye-pecking  "  propensities  are  believed  in  to  the 
present  day.)     ''Another  kind,    which   they   call   the 
mountain  snake"    {Python?),    "will  swallow   up  a 
heifer  or  a  stag,  and  some  of  these  animals  I  have  seen 
when  killed  by  our  Caffres,  who  eat  the  flesh,  and  say 
that  it  is  very  tasty  and  nourishing.      Each  slice  had  a 
thickness  exceeding  one  palm.     And  the  meat  was  very 
white,  with  scales  like  a  whiting:' 


89 


Appendix. 

THE  EFFECT  ON  SNAKES  OF  ELECTRIC 

LIGHT. 

The  various  experiments    I    have  made  wff-h 
snakes  in  Ceylon  have  led  me  to  beSve    that  Told 

rats  ^hat  r."L  ''  " '^  ^^e  mfrequency  of  the  sun's 
unsnif  K  "^f  ^^^^  =^  ^I'^ate  such  as  that  of  England 
unsuitable  for  serpents.  It  is  electricity  that  the 
snake  requires,  and  this  is  obtained  from  the  sun's 
rays  m  a  tropical  climate.     In  a  cold  climate  the 

unneceianr'  '"  '  ""'^'"'t  "°-^  -'  "believe! 
unnecessarily    excessive,    the    temperature     being 

often  considerably  higher  than  the  average  heat  of 

a  tropical  jungle.     Much  of  this  excessivfartSia 

?oStnT  ight  ''''''■  ^^-"-sfully  exchanged 

souJ^'lT'^'Tf^  ^\  ^^"^  ^'^"^^  statement  may 
made  '  thT  u"''"^  '^^  "™^™"^  experiments  I 
.rHfi  '■  .  u  '^'""^  '"^'^■^^  withdrew  from  anv 
artificial    heat  introduced    into  their  cages    thpv 

dearie  li°hfr'°"w^°    ^^'"^  beneath  thfr^yfo'f 
.n  a  dark  Sr^e?  nf^.t  '^'^  "'"""^  "^^P'  '^eir  heads 
Th«    (^     S^  the  cage  to  protect  their  eyes. 

activkv  on  S'  '^'f '  fu'^'  '^^^  ^^^  ^'^  '"^■"ease  in 
activity  on  the  part  of  the  snakes. 


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